Community Service and Perhaps a Slice of Heaven
by ChunkyMunky241
Summary: Revived, revised, and updated! Sanosuke's sponging behaviour makes him a target for Kaoru's anger. Forced to work at Oguni Clinic as payback, can Sanosuke stomach working with Megumi despite their arguments? Or will Japan be destroyed by terrorists first?
1. Grow Up!

COMMUNITY SERVICE AND PERHAPS A SLICE OF HEAVEN

Author's Notes: This story takes place just prior to the Kyoto Arc.

CHAPTER ONE – GROW UP! Sanosuke Recruited

Yahiko ran across the floor with the rag yet again. Zipping across the front porch area in front of the Kamiya Dojo, the boy's hands began to redden at the stress he was putting on the cloth. The sound of his rushing feet hitting the floor followed him as he washed, the floor itself shining and mocking him with his own reflection. He knew it still would not be good enough for Kaoru, and he knew she would tell him so. Loudly.

His brows drew together in a frown as he took his eyes off the floor to look at Sanosuke, who, of course, was not participating in any of the cleaning jobs Kaoru had so generously placed upon the boarders of the dojo. While Kenshin was off doing the laundry and he, Yahiko, was scrubbing the floors, Sano was just sitting there, idly soaking up the sunshine on the front porch of the place, fishbone and calm smile on his face and everything. Yahiko stopped washing for a moment. _That free-loader. Why the hell is here, anyway?_

In all actuality, Sanosuke was simply enjoying the fact that he _could_ come over while everyone else had to work and was laughing inwardly. He twirled the fishbone in his mouth with his tongue a little as he slouched further into his relaxed position leaning on one of the roof-supporting columns. Draping his arm over his closely bent knee, Sanosuke's face relaxed in the warm, tranquil air. The sun was shining, everyone was preoccupied with some chore or whatnot, the wind was blowing gently, he was not preoccupied with any chores, the sky was a nice, soft blue, and all was peaceful around the fighter-for-hire. That was, peaceful until Yahiko threw his rag at him.

"Dammit, Sanosuke! What the hell are you doing here? You don't live here, but you eat here and hang around here and don't do any of the work!" The jealousy in Yahiko's tone was evident.

Sanosuke brushed off the spot of dirt and grime in his hair the rag had left. Pulling the bone out of his mouth he said, "I know. Sweet deal, isn't it?"

Yahiko's anger increased, predictably. "The least you could do is help out with the chores! I mean, look! You're just sitting there! I know you've got nothing better to do, so why don't you just get up off your lazy-"

"Yahiko!" Kaoru opened the shoji door carrying what could become a very dangerous broomstick. "What's all this shouting about?"

"Him," the boy pointed to Sano, who by now, had slumped back down and started to take a nap. Yahiko's pointed finger soon turned into an angry fist and, while appearing upset at the older man's slobbish behaviour, his eyes held a twinge of envy. He had _so_ wanted to sleep in this morning . . . "He's a bum! A parasite of the community! How come he gets all the perks of living here without any of the work?"

"Since when have you ever cared about the community?" Sanosuke questioned, opening one eye.

"You may have a point there, Yahiko," Kaoru said, stepping over to the 'bum' in question. "He should do _something_ to pay off all the meals we've given him. Here," she dropped the broom into the fighter's lap. "You can start paying off your debt by sweeping the dojo."

At this, Sano got up. "Yeah, right. If staying here's gonna require work, I'm leaving."

Yahiko crossed his arms angrily. "See, I told you. A scourge to society . . ."

Kaoru's fine brows furrowed. "Hold it, free-loader!" she leapt out in front of the Sanosuke and held the broom like a sword, angled toward him and lifting his chin up slightly. The tall man's eyes widened and he stopped immediately. "Yahiko's right, you are a parasite of the community. And," her eyes narrowed, "if you won't help out here, maybe you need to do some community service elsewhere." The last few words sounded like a death sentence.

Sanosuke gulped.

* * *

Kenshin managed to smile while wincing at the same time as he washed laundry with Suzume smathering bubbles into his hair. Ayame continued to giggle as her sister shaped the foam into new and interesting designs that soon gave the ex-Battousai quite a new look indeed.

Suzume laughed as she swooped more white bubbles on, this time, upon Kenshin's upper lip. Now with white hair and a white moustache, Ayame could not help but exclaim, "Now he looks just like Grandpa!"

Finishing up the last of the laundry on the washboard, Kenshin took his sleeve and rubbed all of the girls' handiwork out of his hair and off his face. He hung up the linen with a smile to the children. "I believe that's enough of that for now, that I do."

The girls pouted, but nodded in agreement. Now that the laundry was done, there would be no more opportunity to decorate Kenshin.

"Let's go see if Miss Kaoru needs us to do anything more," he turned to walk to the school's entrance, Ayame and Suzume clinging to his feet for a free ride.

"_There's no way in hell I'm gonna do that!_"

Suzume looked up at Kenshin. "Uncle Ken, he said a bad word."

"That he did," Kenshin responded, patting her head, his smile never fading. _I wonder what it is that Miss Kaoru is trying to get Sanosuke to do. I hope neither of them has gotten too carried away . . ._

"_You're going to do it if you ever want to eat here again!_"

"Oh dear," Kenshin said as he walked around the corner of the Kamiya school. "What seems to be the problem this time?" he put on his best peacemaker face.

Yahiko smiled smugly. "Kaoru's chewing out Sanosuke for being a lazy freeloader."

"Ah," Kenshin said, now understanding. "What is that she wants him to do?"

"I will _not_ go and _help_ that . . . that _fox_!" Sanosuke sputtered angrily.

"Oh, I think I see now," the wanderer said to himself.

"You'll do it all right," Kaoru put her hands on her hips obstinately, "unless of course you'd rather starve."

"I can get food elsewhere, you know!" but Sano's stomach grumbled in betrayal.

Kaoru would have none of it. "With what money, Sanosuke?"

At this, Sanosuke struggled for an answer.

"It's settled then. We're going over to Megumi's place right now," the assistant master of the Kamiya Dojo grabbed the great Zanza, fighter-for-hire, by the collar of his jacket and dragged him off the property.

"Poor guy," Yahiko said with genuine pity, for he knew Kaoru's anger and how terrible it could be from experience, but he smiled nonetheless. "Oh well, it just means more food for me!"

"Now, Yahiko," Kenshin berated softly. "That was a mean thing you did to Sano, that it was."

"What? How do you know I did something to cause this?"

Kenshin would not answer, but simply smiled and carried Ayame and Suzume to the bathhouse. He figured Miss Kaoru would want a bath after all that shouting.

* * *

It was only about three minutes into the walk to Megumi's clinic that Sanosuke decided it would be in his best interest to ditch his jacket and just make a run for it. The lady Kaoru dragged the now unstruggling but still pouting Sano down the road, his long legs scuffing and leaving a dusty trail behind the pair. Sanosuke carefully pulled one arm out of the sleeve, cautious as to not let her catch him. Prepping his hand to pull the other arm out of its sleeve, he judged the exact moment he would choose to run.

"It's not going to be _that_ bad, Sanosuke," Kaoru said, still storming down the street. "I'm sure after a while you'll-what the-!" she stopped when she noticed that her luggage seemed a bit lighter. "_Come back here, Sanosuke!_" she chased after the now racing ruffian.

"You'll never take me alive!" Sanosuke called behind him as he ran.

* * *

"Oh, Doctor Gensai, what a pleasant surprise," Megumi smiled as she finished mixing one of her numerous herb medications. "What brings you here?"

The old doctor smiled, placing relaxed fists behind his back. "Just here to check up on how you're doing, Miss Megumi . . . and perhaps to ask for one of your expert poultices, if I may."

"Of course," the lady smiled, her delicate hands searching the shelves. "For what purpose is it?"

"It's quite unfortunate," Gensai said. "It appears a hotel owner was attacked on an outing by a group of thugs. He has some very bad lacerations and many bruises. And he was lucky to get off that easily."

"My," Megumi said in her neutral professional tone. After a few more seconds of scanning, she plucked a rather large bottle off the shelf and handed it to the doctor. "Here you are. Mix this with some rice meal and warm it up before you put it on the bruises and then bandage them before it's exposed any longer."

"Understood. Thank you, Miss Megumi," Dr. Gensai bowed in gratefulness and turned to exit, but paused looking out the door. "Miss Megumi . . ."

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Did you by chance schedule a check-in with Sanosuke Sagara?"

"No," Megumi frowned at the name and in confusion. "Why?"

"_I'm telling you, I'm not gonna do it!_"

"_Stop being so stubborn! You're acting like a big baby!_" Kaoru's voice carried quite loudly as she pulled the large man up to the entrance by his ear as he ineffectually flailed his limbs in hopes to escape. Forcing her way to the door, little Miss Kaoru shoved Sano before her. Sanosuke, now trapped in the doorway, stood there and pouted, his arms crossed over his chest huffily as he refused to make eye-contact with anyone present. Kaoru tried to ignore this and said in a firm voice, "Miss Megumi, you have a new volunteer at this clinic. Sanosuke's going to repay society by doing some community service here."

"Oh no," Megumi put her hand to her head in consternation.


	2. Hidden Talents

CHAPTER TWO – HIDDEN TALENTS: Zanza Turned Storyteller and Megumi the Businesswoman

"What was Kaoru thinking?" Megumi lamented as she finished clearing up her many drugs and antibiotics.

"I could ask the same thing," Sanosuke said, now reclining lazily against the wall on the tatami-matted floor. The summer sun filtered through the open shoji door and a light breeze followed. Despite the cool ruffling of the four stray strands over his red headband, the heat was making Sano drowsy.

Megumi pursed her red lips in a frown. "You have no room to complain. I'm the one that has to put up with you. What in the world could have possessed her to bring you _here_? Are you even good for anything in a clinic?"

"Hey," Sanosuke managed to enunciate through a yawn. He stretched his arms wide. "I'm good for plenty of things."

"Oh?" the medic quirked a sculpted eyebrow. "Such as . . .?"

"Zzzzzzzzz . . ."

Megumi's sculpted brow began to twitch in irritation. Picking up a gilded fan along the way, she treaded lightly toward the snoozing mercenary. Crossing her arms primly and leaning against the wall next to Sano, she drummed her fingers lightly on her forearm, waiting for just the right moment.

_Smack!_

"Ow! Jeez," Sanosuke leaned forward, rubbing his newfound bruise on the back of his head as Megumi tossed out the now broken fan. "What the heck was that for?"

"No wonder Kaoru sent you out. If you stayed here too long, I'd kick you out too," Sano scowled at her response but was given no time to retort as she continued. "But since there's apparently nothing I can do about you being here, I might as well put you to work. Now, I'll ask you this again, but only once more. Are you useful for _anything_?"

"Lady, I'm not doing anything for _you_," he stopped gingerly rubbing the lump on his head to stand and put his hands on his hips obstinately. "I'm not quite sure what Missy was thinking when she made me come here either, but I'm not going to be part of any of this." The fighter-for-hire stormed to the door.

"Now hold on just a minute," Megumi rushed in front of him and blocked his passage. "I know as well as anyone that you're a lazy, insensitive, good-for-nothing, scrounging, sponging, freeloading-"

"Does this have a point?" Sanosuke snapped.

This did not help Megumi's mood. "What I was going to say was that since you're here anyway, you might as well do some good."

"Hmph," Sano pretended to focus on the red bandage on his left arm. "And what do you suppose I could do . . . if I did anything?"

"Do you have any experience tending wounds?"

"No."

"Mixing herbal compounds?"

"No."

"Stitching lacerations?"

"No."

"Mending broken bones?"

"No."

". . ." Megumi was at a loss. A small headache sprang from her temples and flared her frustration physically. She pressed two fingers beside her eye and massaged the pain, hoping it and her aggravation would ease. "Can't you do _any_-"

A scream came from another room in the clinic.

Her head shot in the direction of the sound, all annoyance at Sano forgotten for an instant. "Oh no-Kikeiko . . ." In a blur of purple apron and kimono she flew to the patients' quarters, hesitating only slightly before leaving Sanosuke to himself.

"Now wait a minute!" he called after her. "You can't just think I'm going to stay when you give me the chance to-"

But she was already gone.

"Damn it . . ." Sanosuke muttered and took off in the direction he had last seen her go.

"Kikeiko . . . Kikeiko," Megumi muttered, cradling a child's head in her hand while she tipped a small cup of medicine to small, quivering lips. "Calm down now . . . it's all right . . ."

In the focused light of the small window of the room, the doctor managed to help the girl down the concoction before a fit of coughing began. Grabbing a section of the sheets the girl had been lying upon, Megumi handed them to the child, Kikeiko. The girl coughed and sputtered in to the linen with more force than a child should ever need to muster.

When Megumi pulled the sheet away after Kikeiko was through, she set it down beside her, the tiny flecks of blood only barely noticeable in the shadow of the room.

"Drink some more, Kikeiko," the medic attempted to sound soothing through her worry.

"No," the girl whispered, looking away.

"Kikeiko," Megumi said, "I know it tastes bad, but it'll help-"

"They told me not to!" Kikeiko turned her head quickly back to the doctor with a frightened look in her eyes. "They came and said that if I drink stuff from you . . . if I do, rivers of blood . . . would come from my mouth and I'd drown and . . . and . . ." her attention faltered when her eyes strayed to the doorway.

He stood, filling up nearly the entire doorframe, the sunlight only catching glimpses of his white clothing as the rest of him was shrouded in the shadow of the hall. His voice sounded just as dark, but not so ominous. "I see a lot of your clinic's modelled from the Western style. I hate hallways. They're just begging to get lost in."

"Who-who are you?" Kikeiko had to crane her neck to try to see his face.

"Go wait outside," Megumi commanded Sanosuke. "I'm busy here trying to get Kikeiko to take her medicine and I don't need you—"

"I don't want to take that stuff!" Kikeiko interrupted. "I'll get sicker if I do!"

"Now what's all this, huh?" Sano tilted his head, half in curiosity, half in amusement. He made his way over to the mat where the girl lay quickly with his long-legged gait and squatted down. He blew his bangs out of his eyes. Kikeiko stared. "You think you'll get sicker if you take the medicine?"

"Yeah," Kikeiko said. "I had this dream and there were these voices and they said-"

"Ah," Sano closed his eyes and nodded in understanding. "A dream telling you to do things. I see. I've had one of those before," his low voice, normally rumbling, was strangely smooth.

"Listen now," Megumi said, getting slightly irritated with Sanosuke's gall, "I told you to leave. I expect you should do as I say. I am the doctor here, after a-"

"Really, mister?" Kikeiko did not seem to hear the doctor. "What did yours say?"

"Well," Sanosuke gave a small grin, tilting his head back slightly, "let's see if I can remember . . ." He opened one dark eye to Kikeiko, the girl completely enraptured by now. "I was about your age, I guess, and it was when I was with-" he hesitated to mention his association with the Sekihoutai, "-a bunch of friends out on a journey. One of the nights when I was asleep, I had this dream where I was running through a forest and there were a bunch of voices saying, 'let it go.'"

"Let what go?" the girl asked.

"I'm getting to that," Sano said. "Well, I kept running, but I tripped and fell into a puddle. I got up, but when I started running again, the voices were louder."

"Were they saying the same thing?"

"Yep. 'Let it go, let it go,'" the fighter gave a small chuckle. "Anyway, I ran all the way to a point where there wasn't any forest anymore and I reached a huge waterfall. The voices were so loud by then that I couldn't stand it and I jumped."

Kikeiko gasped. "You jumped in the waterfall?"

"That's right. And all the way down I could hear them saying, 'Let it go! Let it go!' And you know what happened next?"

"What?" little Kikeiko's wide, bright eyes shone with anticipation.

"I woke up . . . with a big puddle in my pants. It turned out that my so-called friends had been pulling a prank on me with some whispers and a bowl of warm water."

Kikeiko could not help but giggle.

"Now, you see how you can't always trust what your dreams tell you?" Sanosuke said, deftly snatching the medicine Megumi had previously been holding. She gave a small startled cry at his abruptness, but stopped when he gave her a look that told her to follow along with his plan.

"I sure do, mister," Kikeiko nodded with a broad smile.

"Here then," Sanosuke handed the cup to the girl and she drank with relish, despite the sour face she wore after. A few moments later, Kikeiko yawned and her eyelids slowly lowered.

With only a small tinge of the fear she had previously, she whispered to Sanosuke, "Will the voices get me now? Say you won't let them get me."

"Tch. They're not going to get you while I'm around," he winked.

Kikeiko smiled and fell asleep.

Megumi still looked in awe at what had just transpired. Not only had Sano managed to do something in her profession that she had just failed to do, he had done it with explicit disregard for her orders. Her red lips turned down in a scowl. "I thought Sir Ken was the only fighter this good with children."

"Well, Fox, you learn something new every day," he stood up from his squatting position at Kikeiko's beside and shoved his hands in his pockets. However, before he began his departure, his eyes fixed on something on the floor. Megumi followed his eyes.

Picking up and tucking away the bloodied portion of the white sheet, Megumi sighed softly. "It's sad, really, how many children we get. Even though I work with Doctor Gensai, he's always out on house visits, and I hear them crying all the time. They can't go home because of their illnesses and they're always so sad here. It's no wonder; they're secluded from everyone: friends . . . family . . ." her voice trailed off with the last word.

"What does she have?" Sanosuke asked calmly.

"Consumption," Megumi stated. "Normally we're supposed to treat it by blood-letting, but both Doctor Gensai and I won't have any of that here. Unfortunately, we don't know of anything to help," she looked back up at Sano, and, seeing his brows knitting together in a sad scowl, decided to lift the mood. "So when was this little wet pants incident, hmm?"

Sano coughed, embarrassed, a slight blush crossing his face. "Well, now if you don't mind, I'm off . . ."

She looked at him slyly from deep brown eyes. "Really? Didn't you already have a chance to leave before?" Sanosuke stopped his progression to the door. "Why didn't you take it?" she persisted.

Smiling wryly, he closed his eyes. "I guess I'm just a sucker for a damsel in distress."

"Hmph. I'm flattered, but I never took you for the hero type."

"Who said you were the damsel?"

She glowered.

"I'm not the hero type anyway," he said before starting toward the exit again.

"Hold it," Megumi stopped him with the conviction in her voice. "You don't think I'm still going to let you leave now, do you?"

"What are you going to do? Try and stop me?" he turned his head slightly to look back at her.

"At least now I know you're good for something. Besides," she tossed her hair saucily, "any good businesswoman knows a good investment when she sees one."

"Huh. Businesswoman. That's a fancy way to say 'sly fox.'"

"Why do you insist on calling me that?" Megumi's upper-hand was fading as her temper grew.

"It suits you," he responded, now fully looking at her. The sunlight shone up on her dark hair, making it comparable to fine silk that trailed down her back with the two wayward strands before her ears framing her ivory face. His eyes darted to the door and back to her again. "Now," he started slowly, "supposing I stay here, what do you intend for me to do?"

The cogs in the Fox's head began turning. "Since you work so well with children," she said, "I was planning on making you just read to them and comfort them during their stays here. Of course, I'm not so sure about the comforting. Who'd really want to get comfortable with a pointy-haired rooster-he-"

"Okay," he cut her off with his hand. "So I tell the kids stories. What do I get out of it?"

Megumi pondered over the transaction with her vixen cunning. "Two square meals and a place to stay once a week," she decided.

Sanosuke's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Make it four meals and five days of the week and you've got a bargain."

"No deal," she snapped. "Three meals and three days a week is my final offer," she raised a finger to her perfect lips. "Oh, and you have to run errands for me whenever I need more supplies."

Sanosuke pretended to think it over. "Deal," he concluded.

"Deal," she nodded.

Sano smiled and turned back around to leave. "Well, I'm off to go celebrate my new job . . . don't wait up for me, Foxy."

Megumi scowled at the name. "Oh? And just what are you doing to celebrate?"

"Getting drunk, of course. You've got no idea what you've gotten yourself into, Lady."

"_Waaaaaahhh!_" a child's whine could be heard from another room, shaking the entire building's foundations. "_I can't sleep! These stitches are too itchy!_"

A triumphant smirk on her face, Megumi stood and crossed her arms. "Apparently, neither do you. I suppose the celebrations will just have to wait, won't they?"

Sanosuke groaned. He had forgotten that work meant that you had to work.


	3. Misconceptions

CHAPTER THREE – MISCONCEPTIONS: Awkward Positions of Two Kinds

"You're real annoying, you know that, brat?" Sanosuke frowned.

"So? What are you going to do about it? Hurt an injured kid?"

"I'm awful close to it . . ." Sano growled menacingly at the boy before him. "I don't think people would miss a brat like you too much."

"Like you've got the guts," the kid sneered. "Besides, my name's not 'brat.' It's Isamu. Isamu Nakagawa."

"It doesn't matter to me, _brat_," the older man emphasized the word spitefully, "just as long as you stop your bellyaching enough for me finish fixing this stupid bandage. Dammit, isn't this the Fox's job? That woman's gonna pay . . ." the last part was muttered as he snatched Isamu's leg rather violently and began rewrapping it in clean dressings after smothering the laceration in heaps of gauze. The boy bit his lip as the salve began to sting, tilting his head so that his dark strands of hair would cover the side of his face that was toward the older man. The area around the cut was red an inflamed, mostly due to the boy's persistence in scratching it, and apparently causing much pain to the little boy, which, of course, Sano ignored. "How the hell does a kid get his Achilles' tendon cut anyway?" the older man finished the wrapping quickly.

Isamu snatched his leg back. "Like that's any of your business. Where's Doctor Megumi? How come she's not the one doing this?"

"She said something about finishing up some medicines and making food," Sanosuke stood up. "And you should be grateful I did what I did for you, Brat, 'cause normally I'm the one _causing _injuries, not fixing them up." He turned to exit out the door.

"Oh, yeah, I'm ever so grateful you almost tore my leg off . . ." the boy said sarcastically. "Next time why don't you make sure you don't hit a guy when he's d-" his voice stopped suddenly.

Sanosuke looked back over his shoulder. "What? What is it, kid?" he sounded impassive and exasperated at the same time.

"What's with the 'bad' logo?" Isamu's finger jabbed out, pointing to the fighter-for-hire.

"Not your business, kid," Sanosuke growled impatiently.

"What," Isamu sneered, "You get branded by the police or something?"

"Tch. Don't know how close you are," Sanosuke shoved his hands in his pockets. "Those imperialist pigs betrayed my squad and gave us this for all the work we did helping them. Hypocrites."

"Sekihoutai . . .?" Isamu scanned through his memory. "You were in the Sekihoutai? Weren't you kind of young then?"

"I did my part and fought my own way through it. Besides, aren't _you_ a little young to know about stuff like that, anyway?"

"Not too young to know about the crap way the government works."

Sano's eyes widened for a flash before he put his apathetic expression back on. "Yeah, well, maybe we can agree on something after all," he grumbled. Sanosuke did not look back when he left the room.

The door closed and Isamu was alone, staring at his wounded ankle and the discarded bloody bandages. His eyes still downcast, his other foot manipulated the bandages across the floor as his hair once again fell over one side of his face. He sighed silently and crossed his arms over his knees. Looking at his handiwork on the floor before him, the bandages spelled out the question on his lips.

". . . Evil . . .?"

* * *

"Complain about my cooking again, Yahiko, and I'll make sure I hit you with more than just a wooden sword!"

"You'd have to catch me first," Yahiko deftly dodged another one of Kaoru's swipes at his head as he stuffed his face with more rice. With a smirk he added unnecessarily, "and with your weight I doubt you could, you fat raccoon!"

Kaoru's face turned very red very fast. "Oh, _that's it!_"

Kenshin calmly ate his supper while the other two at the table proceeded to beat each other senseless. Oddly enough, it seemed fairly quiet to the humble ex-manslayer, despite the routine fight ensuing. The red head silently munched a few more bites of food, contemplating this new development. Sure, it was nice to have more food on the table with Sano not around, but without the guy, it was up to Kenshin to try and separate the Kaoru and Yahiko.

"Miss Kaoru," Kenshin leaned over the table and plucked the girl from the fray by her kimono and sat her down at her designated place at the table, "it's easier to eat when you're closer to the food, that it is."

Kaoru blushed at Kenshin, pausing a little before she nodded with a, "Right."

Yahiko, who had ceased fighting also, seeing as how it did not work quite as well when there was no one with whom to fight, plopped himself back down at his seat. Looking over at Kenshin, he could tell that he had something on his mind, but to his credit, the boy did not say anything and decided to munch while waiting for the older man to begin speaking.

Sure enough, Kenshin set down his chopsticks softly and looked up at Kaoru.

"Miss Kaoru, where did you take Sano today? And why hasn't he returned yet?"

Yahiko swallowed his food. "Yeah, I mean, we know you sent him over to Dr. Gensai's, but what exactly did you do to the guy?"

An uncharacteristically evil smile spread across Kaoru's face. "Oh, nothing too bad . . ."

"You're still not telling us, Miss Kaoru . . ." Kenshin narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

"Well," Kaoru smiled and put her hand behind her head sheepishly. "It's kind of silly, but I remembered how much Sanosuke really hates to be around Megumi, so I figured I could punish him for free-loading here by making him work over there with her, since he hates work as well. Of course, I think I might've indirectly been punishing Megumi too, but that's a small price to pay to teach that big bum a lesson."

Yahiko and Kenshin simply stared at her.

"What?" she asked, confused at their silence.

The two toppled over onto their backs and laughed until Kaoru was red once again, only this time from embarrassment.

"What the heck is so funny?" she shouted to the two boys.

Kenshin wiped his eyes which had started watering at the strength of his laughter. "Y-You really think that Sanosuke and Miss Megumi h-hate each other?"

"Well yeah," Kaoru said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Why else would they always yell at each other and fight all the time?"

"You really don't know anything, do you, Ugly?" Yahiko grinned.

"Hey!" Kaoru whacked him on the head, giving him a small red lump. "Why don't you guys be helpful for once and tell me what I'm missing here?"

Kenshin shook his head with a small smile. "I'm sorry, Miss Kaoru," he stood and turned toward the door, "but that information isn't ours to tell, is it Yahiko?"

Yahiko looked confused for a minute as to why he should not tell the Raccoon Girl, but thought about how much fun it would be to leave her begging for the answer to her question and decided to follow Kenshin's lead. "Right. You'll just have to figure it out for yourself," he chuckled, "and at that rate, I guess you'll never get it . . ."

The wanderer slid open the door and exited with the Kamiya Kasshin Style's first apprentice in tow, both of them laughing softly as they left.

"But . . . but what don't I get? Why don't I get it?" Kaoru stood up indignantly. "Hey, come back here, you guys! What don't I get?"

* * *

The moonlight trickled though the translucent paper covering the shoji, just barely illuminating the main room of the clinic. The warm night air drifted through the doors, parted slightly for the summer, and swirled languidly around the room, carrying the scent of summer nights, worn tatami, and . . .

_Ohagi?_ Sanosuke's stomach rumbled. Sure enough, there was a tray of rice, fish, and Megumi's specialty food, ohagi. Not bothering to light any lamps, Sano simply followed the scent of the food, inhaled it completely within seconds, and continued on his way, licking his fingers as he went (which probably was not a good idea, since he had just finished putting gauze over Isamu

's injured ankle and the residue still remained on his hands). Sanosuke made a face and mentally noted that he would listen when people told him to wash his hands before eating, even though he would most likely forget by tomorrow.

"Now where's this bed I bargained for?" he asked himself as he left the main building of the clinic into the open air of the compound. It was not quite as large as the Kamiya Dojo, but basically the same set-up. The dark-tiled roofs over the buildings glistened in the night, surrounding a small garden where, Sanosuke guessed, Megumi and Doctor Gensai grew medicinal herbs. Across the way, a hazy light trickled through the plants in the centre, Sano just barely able to see the shadows of the wooden supports of the shoji. The cicadas hummed a soothing night-song and the slight breeze blanketed him in lulling warmth as he gave a large yawn and walked over to the lit building. He slid open the door.

And found a nearly naked Megumi sitting on the floor.

Megumi stared with wide eyes at Sanosuke.

Sanosuke stared with wide eyes at Megumi.

"YOU PERVERT!" she quickly recovered, the mortification clear on the doctor's face in her blush as well as the volume of her scream. Holding what had been her discarded kimono in one hand and using it in an attempt to cover herself, she proceeded to hurl her wooden sandals at the intruding man.

Sano managed to dodge the first, but the second hit him square on the forehead. "SHIT!" he shouted just loud enough for the entire clinic to hear. "For a woman you sure throw hard!"

Megumi ignored the semi-compliment and quickly put on her nightclothes, a process she had been in the middle of before the fighter-for-hire had interrupted. Fastening closed her nightdress with a pale blue sash, she stood up and managed to look intimidating, despite her vantage point just under his nose. "Do you have anything else to say for yourself before I kill you, Sanosuke?"

"Is it too late to say, 'I didn't mean to?'" he rubbed the mark on his forehead that was beginning to match the shade of his head-band.

"Yes."

"Well, just so you know, I didn't come over here to burn my eyes with the sight of you," Sano shoved his hands in his pockets, "I just wanted to know where my room was. You _did _say I could have a bed three nights a week. I'm using one of those nights now."

"Don't you have your own house to go to instead of pestering me and Kaoru for a place to stay?"

"Sure I do, but the company here is so nice," he dripped sarcasm.

Megumi tossed her hair in an agitated manner. "Fine," she stood, "your room is this way. Follow me."

The two of them walked down to the end of the outer porch, Megumi storming all the way with an exasperated glare in her eyes and Sano trailing behind her with his eyes low, though whether they were looking at the floor, staring at Megumi's rear, or simply heavy with sleep could not be discerned. Megumi slid the shoji open, revealing a spartanly plain room. Sano stepped in, surmising his quarters with a quirked brow.

"You expect me to sleep in this box of a room?"

"What, do thugs actually have taste now?" Megumi was obviously tired of playing butler for the ungrateful man and wanted nothing more than to curl up in her futon and sleep.

"Just because you see me out on the street all the time doesn't mean I like to live there."

Megumi rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Set up your own bed. I'm going back to sleep."

"Where is it?"

"Haven't you ever prepared your own futon before?" the assistant doctor's patience was wearing thin. "Or are you so much of a baby that Kaoru has to do everything for you?"

Sanosuke glared. "Look, I'm new to this place. Give me a break."

"Anything to keep you quiet," Megumi muttered as she brushed past him and pulled out the bed in question, purposely angling herself as she squatted to pull it out so that her bottom would be facing away from Sano's eyes. Sanosuke whistled, looking off in another direction and pretending not to care.

Megumi unrolled the futon with a snap in the air and let it fan out onto the floor. "Here," she said, rubbing her eyes to keep her awake long enough to make it back to her room.

"Thanks, I guess," he said, kneeling down onto the bed and pulling off his gi, not even waiting for Megumi to leave the room.

She frowned in disdain at his lack of modesty, turning up her nose haughtily as she sauntered to the door. However, with her nose turned up like so, she was unable to see Sanosuke's long legs sticking out behind him as he knelt.

"Ooof!" she tripped gracelessly, her body now draped over the fighter-for-hire and all of her previous attempts to keep attention from her rear made utterly futile by the position she was in now. And, of course, the couple was now tangled up in the sheets and Sano's white jacket.

Sanosuke twisted himself around so he could yell at the fallen doctor to her face, but found himself uncomfortably close to her butt. Nevertheless, he shouted, "Dammit lady, why can't you watch where you're going?"

"Ugh, you think I actually _meant_ for this to happen?" she tried to get up on all fours, but only succeeded in getting them even more twisted into the futon.

"Wait, don't go on my lap!"

"I wouldn't if you'd just—hey! Don't put that in there!"

"I wouldn't have to if I could just get up!"

"I'm trying to help you, but I can't until you get your hand away from those!"

All of this (and more, since the grunts and groans of their struggle to arise were quite vociferous) could be heard through the shoji doors and into the night and, unfortunately, into the ears of a very tired Suzume. The child yawned and rubbed the sleep out of one eye with a languid hand as she shuffled toward the room at the end of the building.

"Could you _not_ put your hand there?"

"Where else am I supposed to put it when you just stick them in my face?"

"If I move down lower is it better?"

"Yeah, maybe . . . I can . . . get . . . u-up . . ."

As Suzume approached the room the moans and other sounds increased in volume almost in accordance with her tiny footsteps. An uncharacteristic frown drew itself upon her face as she reached the door, her eyes dull with drowsiness and her normally energetic actions slowed to a dead march. Even so, she managed to swiftly open the shoji door.

The couple paused immediately at the intrusion . . . and in a most awkward position, to say the least. Though the sheets covered most of how the two were situated, the tell-tale shapes beneath it showed that Megumi's leg was indeed slung over Sanosuke's right shoulder with her head facing the opposite direction, and while he tried to keep his head away from her rear, in order to do so, he had to thrust his arm over her back (and between her legs, no less). To make matters worse, not only did Sanosuke have nothing visible on his top, but Megumi's nightdress had begun to loosen.

"Auntie Megumi," Suzume said in a dull, sleepy voice, "if you want to play kiss-kiss with Uncle Sano, you should be quieter. Some of us want to sleep."

And with that the door slammed closed and the girl shuffled back to bed.

". . ." the couple said simultaneously before instantly pushing the other away and landing with a thud on opposite sides of the room.

Megumi was the first to stand as she firmly grasped the front of her nightdress closed, the blush on her face still present. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but, at a loss as to what to say, she opted to leave with a hurried (yet still spiteful), "Good night," to go catch up and explain to Suzume that there definitely was not any "kiss-kiss" going on in that room.

"Hey, Fox, wait!" Sano called out just as she stepped out the door.

"What do you want now?" her tone was exasperated.

"I didn't know you're experimenting in Western fashion," He grinned slyly, lifting up his hand and swinging something light and frilly on the end of his index finger. "I think you left something in my bed . . ."

_Smack!_

"_Sanosuke Sagara, if I ever catch you going anywhere near my panties again, I swear you won't be able to move for the next week!_"

"Yeah, right," Sano said, trying to ignore the pain that flared up in a large, red hand-print on the side of his face. "The day you beat me is the day Kenshin loses a fight."

Megumi did not hear the last comment as she slammed the door closed as hard as she could. Too tired to give chase to Suzume immediately, she rubbed her temples in an exasperated manner, having half a mind to go back into the room and hit the fighter-for-hire again. Deciding it really was not worth her time, she finally began her trek back to the other end of the porch, where she hoped she could finally escape that awful, lecherous, trouble-making, drinking, free-loader of a man. Somehow, she did not think it would be that easy.

"I swear, that Rooster-head is incorrigible," she mumbled.

* * *

Author's Note: There have been some comments on Kaoru's cluelessness concerning Sanosuke and Megumi's feelings. Because this takes place early on in the series, and there is little, if anything, to indicate that Kaoru is concerned about or even notices how Megumi and Sanosuke interact with each other except for their bickering, I have decided to place her realization here, just before the arrival and Saito and the Kyoto arc. It is consistently Yahiko who points out Sanosuke and Megumi's arguments as repressed feelings and jokes about them being a couple. Thus, I do not think it far-fetched to have Kaoru first considering the possibility that the two may have feelings for each other even as late as between episode 27 and 28. Up to the Kyoto arc (and through it, it seems) she is mostly concerned with Megumi's relationship to Kenshin. It is then, perhaps, a successful feat of misdirection on Megumi's part that Kaoru has not considered matching Megumi and Sanosuke, rather than a lack of perception on Kaoru's part.


	4. Beware the Crafty Raccoon!

CHAPTER FOUR – BEWARE THE CRAFTY RACCOON! Kaoru's Plot for the Fox and the Rooster

_Thwack!_

"Wake up, Chicken-head," Isamu's voice came into Sanosuke's consciousness barely over the pain of the fresh lump on the street fighter's head.

Sano rolled over onto his side, his hand covering his wounded head. "It's too early to kill you now, brat," he mumbled drowsily.

Isamu promptly hit him with his crutch again. "You can do that later. Doctor Megumi wants you up so you can eat breakfast with us like a civilized person."

That got his attention. "Food?" Sano's eyes snapped open and his stomach took that as a cue to grumble loudly.

"Yeah," Isamu answered, already having hobbled off the porch and beginning his way to the main building, "but it won't be there if you don't hurry . . ."

Sanosuke did not need to be told twice. Sitting up and pulling his jacket off the top of his sheets, he was ready in a flash, but stopped when he felt something fall from one of the sleeves. Smirking at the lacy garment that had fluttered to the floor, he shoved it under the futon for safe-keeping – who knew when the next time he could make the Fox blush like that would present itself?

Sanosuke's stomach rumbled again, reminding him that he should probably get a move on if he did not want the Brat to eat his share of breakfast . . .

"Auntie Megumi, is it ready yet?" Ayame tugged on the doctor's smock.

"Yeah, ready yet?" Suzume chimed in.

Doctor Gensai chuckled. "Now now, girls. We should just leave Megumi to her work. It'll be ready in due time. And when it's done you know it'll be the best meal you've ever tasted. So sit down now and wait for it."

"Okay . . ." the two said sullenly and knelt themselves back down at the table.

Megumi smiled. "You flatter me, Doctor Gensai."

"You think that will make it ready sooner?"

"No," Megumi shook her head, "but it's certainly inspiring."

"Good," the elder doctor smiled as he sat down at his own space between his granddaughters, "because I can't wait to eat either!" Picking up his chopsticks, a sudden noise caught his attention and he looked toward the hall.

"Well now, Kikeiko," his tone was amiable, "are you feeling up to eating with the rest of us now?"

The girl gave a soft smile and nodded fervently, smelling the delicious aroma coming from Megumi's handiwork. She sat down beside Suzume, adjusting the obi on her tiny kimono – she had been bedridden for quite some time and had almost forgotten how to put it on – and tying her long, dark brown hair in a queue. She looked back over her shoulder to Megumi, a puzzled expression on her face. "What happened to that really tall story guy?"

"Who? That Sanosuke fellow?" Gensai guessed, catching her attention. At the girl's unfamiliarity at the name, he continued, "Tall, brown pointy hair, rather thin . . ."

"Yeah, he told me stories yesterday and helped fight the monsters in my sleep," Kikeiko's eyes were starry.

Megumi groaned as she placed some dumplings on a tray. "That rooster-headed idiot is probably still sleepi-"

"_Dammit, brat, if you hit me with that again, you're gonna need more than just a crutch when I'm through with you!_"

"What's the matter? Can't catch up with a cripple?" Isamu taunted as he hobbled through the doorway, a flustered Sanosuke rushing up behind him, adorning several new bruises.

"Never mind then," the assistant doctor set the last of the food down on the table. "I guess Isamu managed to pry you out of bed."

"Pry?" Sano finally caught the back of Isamu's shirt and held him up above the ground, the boy's limbs flailing desperately, trying to get loose. "This brat nearly beat in my skull this morning!"

"It'd take more than a crutch to get through your thick head," the vixen sat herself down in a graceful manner. "Now hurry up and eat your food. We have a busy day today."

"We?" Sano had already dropped his quarry and begun to devour his rice dumplings.

"Yes, _we_," Megumi sat up straight and chewed delicately. "Part of the agreement was that you'd run errands for me. I need to purchase some supplies and I need someone to carry them for me."

"I don't see why you can't carry your own supplies," the fighter-for-hire managed to say through a full mouth.

"Because it's part of our deal that you pull your weight around here," Megumi glared.

Sanosuke took another swallow. "Only for three days of the week. There are still four more that I don't have to do anything for you."

Her delicate hand smacked the table sharply. "You can't just spend the night and not work the next day! You're taking too much leeway with the deal here!"

"I can do whatever I want with the deal, Fox!" Sano shouted back. "I _did _help make it!"

"Why you . . . you . . ." Megumi's brow twitched in fury. She stood and leaned across the table, threateningly close to Sanosuke. "If you don't hold up your end, I swear I'll-"

"_Stop it, Doctor Megumi!_" a voice cried out.

Megumi turned. "Kikeiko . . .?"

The girl's eyes were trembling but were drawn in a tight scowl. "I won't let you hurt Mister Sanosuke. You should be ashamed . . . h-he's a guest!"

"_I_ didn't invite-" Megumi started, but then thought better of arguing with a child. She sighed and took her seat once more. "I'm sorry Kikeiko. You're right. I shouldn't have made such a disturbance at the meal table. But," she gave a pointed look in Sanosuke's direction, "that doesn't mean I was wrong about my convictions. You _will _go to market with me and . . ." she blinked at his empty space at the table.

"Thanks for the diversion, Kikeiko!" was all Sano said before he escaped out the shoji and down the road.

Kikeiko blushed profusely while Isamu ground his teeth together.

Megumi nearly knocked the table over when she got up and shouted:

"_Come back here, Rooster-head!_"

* * *

The methodical brushing of the floor echoed in the large room, off the nameplates and shinai hung so caringly on the wall. The sunshine of the slow approach of mid-morning glinted on the wooden flooring (despite the fact that it still needed to be cleaned) and sparkled off the ebony hair of its cleaner. Kaoru Kamiya swept the interior of the dojo with less vigour than she normally would have. Staring down at her feet, her mind wandered elsewhere . . . specifically, to her discussions with Kenshin last night.

"_Kenshin!_" Kaoru finally caught up with the red-headed wanderer. "Tell me what I'm missing here!" She grabbed on to his shirt and swung him around to face her.

"M-Miss Kaoru, it's really not my affair to discuss!" he stammered.

"I don't like being left out!" she held her wooden sword dangerously above his head.

"But-"

She gripped the fuchsia fabric tighter in her fist. "Kenshin, you'd better tell me, or else . . ."

Kenshin gulped.

_Maybe I was a little hard on him_, Kaoru surmised as she finally set the broom away. _After all, he was right . . . it really wasn't any of our business_. She went over to the wall and pulled a sword down, feeling its smooth, wooden surface and taking a practised swing. Training always helped her relax before.

_But it's still so unbelievable . . ._

"Sanosuke really _likes_ Megumi, instead of hating-?"

"Shh . . . not so loud, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin covered her mouth swiftly. "You never know when one of them, especially Sano, might pop up around here, that you don't."

"But . . . but they're always fighting!" Kaoru pulled his hand off her face. "Why would you fight with someone you're in love with?"

"That is something I don't quite understand either . . ." his amethyst eyes looked into her own.

Kaoru blushed and looked away.

"Maybe," Kenshin said, his eyes closing with a small smile, "maybe they just don't know how to tell the other one . . . or they're afraid they might get hurt if they do. Don't you think, Miss Kaoru?"

Looking back up at him, she blushed even more, realizing that she had yet to release his hand.

"Well?" he asked again. "Don't you think that may be it?"

"Uh, well m-maybe . . ." she said, unsure of what to do. She wanted to let go, but then she did not. She tried to draw attention away from their joined limbs. "B-but I think they're just being silly!" she summoned up her confidence. "I mean, why can't I-they just say how they really feel? It's not so hard, is it?"

"Indeed, that it isn't," the moonlight darkened his eyes and brightened his smile with its playful shadows. "But then again, it is."

"What do you mean, Kenshin?"

"To tell someone you love them is to expose your heart," he looked up at the moon, his normally bright red hair a soft auburn in the night, drifting in the breeze, "and something like that takes time and courage. While courage may be something they have, it still may take a while for one of them to find the right time."

"K-Kenshin . . ."

"Yes, Miss Kaoru?" he looked back at her gently . . . until he too noticed that their hands were still coupled.

"ORO!" his hand flew away as fast as though it had been bitten. "I'm so sorry, Miss Kaoru! I didn't intend any presumptuousness out here, that I didn't!"

Kaoru's originally soft countenance hardened immediately into a frown. "And just what do you mean by that? Do you have something against touching me? Am I that ugly to you?"

"NO! I mean, no! I just-"

"Oh, so you thought you'd just be all smooth in the moonlight and play a joke on me? Hey, where are you going, Kenshin? I'm not done with you yet!"

"ORO!"

_Then again_, Kaoru thought as she took another swipe with the shinai, _it's not all_ that _unbelievable_. She blushed again at the mere memory of Kenshin holding her hand . . . his hair blowing in the breeze . . . his eyes gazing into hers . . .

"Hey, Ugly! Why'd you start without me?"

"Y-Yahiko!" she snapped out her reverie. "What are you doing here?"

"Duh!" he gave her a tap on the head with his bokken. "Are you such a stupid raccoon that you forgot that I'm your only student here and it's time for my session?"

"Don't call your master stupid, idiot!" she hit him in the gut with her sword.

"I'll show you who's the idiot!" Yahiko countered with a kick to her feet.

What would have begun as a simple lesson soon developed into a sparring match. Blow after blow and insult after insult the two managed not only to give the other an extremely difficult fight, but also to dirty up the floor that had previously been cleaned. The shouts and swearing could be heard right through the doors and all the way out into the street, where quickening footsteps approached the dojo entrance.

"You're getting too slow, Kaoru!" Yahiko gloated as he danced away from another attack.

Kaoru growled. "And you're getting too full of yourself!" she shouted as she hit him on his side. "Still think I'm slow, Yahiko?"

"Too slow to dodge this!" he grinned as he feinted a blow to her shoulder and aimed a kick at her stomach.

Kaoru deftly dodged. "Hah! It'll be a long time before you can beat me with a stunt like th-"

"_Where is Sanosuke?_"

Both assistant master and first pupil stopped and blinked at the intrusion on their fight. Megumi stood in the doorway, her eyes almost glowing red and her face looking as though she were a fox demon rather than a fox woman.

"M-Miss Megumi . . ." Kaoru stammered in surprise.

"_Where is he?_"

"He hasn't been here," Yahiko said, a little intimidated by the fiery glare she had. "I haven't seen him since Kaoru dragged him off to the clinic yesterday."

"He may be in a gambling house somewhere . . ." Kaoru tried to be helpful. "Or maybe he went down to the river to take a nap or something."

Megumi turned on her heel and rushed away as swiftly as she came.

"Well that was weird," Yahiko said.

"I'll say," Kaoru stared after the older woman as she left, an ominous invisible cloud of fury following behind her purple apron-clad form.

"What do you suppose she wants with Sano?"

'_To tell someone you love them is to expose your heart, and something like that takes time and courage_,' Kaoru heard the memory of Kenshin speaking to her. _Maybe . . . maybe Megumi's way of showing her courage is anger? That must be it! She must have found the right time to tell Sanosuke how she feels!_

Yahiko looked at her like she was crazy. "Kaoru, what are you grinning like an idiot for?"

"Come on, Yahiko! Hurry up!" she yanked him by the arm, despite his loud protests, and raced after Megumi. "If we don't hurry, we might just miss it!"

* * *

"Sometimes it's real nice to get away from everything," Sanosuke smiled as he leaned back on the grass by the river. Clouds rolled by languidly across the sky, as blue as the river before him, and the wind blew the stray pieces of hair comfortably out of his face. One foot resting upon his bent knee, he chewed on a long stalk of grass with his hands behind his head, closing his eyes and enjoying the calm weather of early summer. "Definitely nice to get away from Megumi, anyway," he added with a yawn, "and that bratty Isamu."

The river's soft trickling and the early afternoon bird-life lulled him in the warm sun, his thoughts blissfully blank and relaxed until . . .

"Any last words, Sanosuke?"

He nearly choked on the stalk in his mouth as he sprang up. "Megumi? How'd you find me here?"

"Oh, I only just ran all around town trying to hunt you down for the past hour," she said with sarcastic bitterness. "I was lucky Kaoru guessed you were here."

"Kaoru . . ." Sanosuke felt a little betrayed by the girl he thought to be his friend. "That little Missy'll sure get a piece of my mind the next tim-"

"You've got more important things to worry about," Megumi said flatly.

Sano rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. I'll help you out tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"No good," the doctor responded, stepping closer and looking down her nose at him.

* * *

"Yahiko! Move your head! I can't see through your bushy hair," Kaoru complained as she shoved the boy lower, peering through a bush beside a tree at the unsuspecting couple.

"What the hell are we supposed to be watching anyway?" he asked in a not-so-nice way, glaring at how her hand still squashed his head down.

Kaoru's eyes turned big and watery with emotion. "We're watching _love_ unfold right before our eyes!"

". . . Right . . ." Yahiko finally pulled her hand off and forced her down. "It just looks like Megumi chewing Sano's head off to me."

Kaoru dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "Sure, it seems that way, but that's only because you don't have any experience in the area of romance."

"_I_ don't have any experience?" the boy huffed. "Look who's talking, you loveless Raccoon!"

"Shut up!" she thwacked him on his head with her bokken. "You'll give our spot away!"

* * *

"Did you hear something?"

"No," Megumi said, still angry.

"I could have sworn . . . ah well. Anyway, it's no use going shopping now," Sanosuke pointed out, switching the grass in his mouth to the other side as he spoke. "The streets are packed."

"I noticed," Megumi brushed a tangle out of her hair with her hand (no doubt a result of her running through the crowded streets). "You know," she glared, "we could have already gotten the shopping done if you had just gone with me in the beginning."

"Yeah," he said, "but thinking like that doesn't do you any good now. The best thing to do is just to wait for the crowd to die down and go then."

"Are you volunteering now?"

"Only if I can get an extra meal."

Megumi made a distasteful sound and frowned, looking away from him. "Fine," she spat. "But what am I supposed to do until I can go?"

"Sit and wait," he tugged on her kimono, forcing her down onto the grass next to him.

* * *

"Oh my," Kaoru gasped. "I thought Megumi came here to tell Sanosuke about her feelings, but I think it might end up being the other way around!"

"For a spy, you sure are loud . . ." Yahiko grumbled. "Besides, don't you think it's kind of rude to be watching them like this . . . if they even _are_ talking about getting together?"

Kaoru's love bubbled deflated. "You don't think that's what they're talking about?"

"Not when Megumi looks that pissed."

"Well, that shows how much you know then!" Kaoru laughed. "I know for a fact that they love each other."

Yahiko looked sceptical. "And how do you know that?"

"Any woman can tell when another woman is in love!" she said pedantically. "It's intuition."

"_What the-_" Megumi's voice carried to the two eavesdroppers. "Idiot! Now my kimono will have grass stains!"

Yahiko looked sly. "You still so sure about that intuition of yours?"

* * *

"Oh quit your whining, Fox," Sano drawled. "I'm sure Kenshin would be more than happy to scrub them out for you."

"That's not the point! I still have to wear this into town, you know!"

Sanosuke sighed and leaned deeper into the tall grass. "You shouldn't sweat so many of the little things."

"What was that?" she glared at him.

"I'm just saying you're too uptight," he looked at her askance. "You need to relax more. You have a good life . . . try to enjoy it sometimes. Besides, I didn't pull you down that hard."

Megumi's frown remained, but she amended. "Well, maybe I did overreact a little bit. You just caught me off-balance, that's all."

"Me? Catch you off-balance?" he laughed a little, pushing some irritating hair out of his eyes with his right hand. "That'll be the day."

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to his hand.

He blinked. "What's what?"

"That," she grabbed his hand and flipped it over. Her fingers traced along the lines of a dark, rough scar across the palm. Grasping his wrist with her left and unfurling his fingers with her right, she found that she had never realized how big his hands were. She pushed that thought from her mind. "When did you get this?"

Sanosuke tried to get his hand back, but Megumi's hold was surprisingly strong. "I . . . I don't remember."

"Yes you do," she frowned at him. "You just won't say."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he blushed, looking in the other direction.

"You're a terrible liar," Megumi said off-hand, still examining the cut. "This . . . this can't be more than a few weeks old. It's a pretty precise laceration . . . most likely caused by a . . . knife . . . oh," she finally realized, her eyes growing wide.

Sanosuke suddenly felt his hand being crushed in a vice-like grip. "Ow! Hey, wat-"

"Why didn't you let me examine this when you got it?" her eyes were snapping. "If you had told me after we left Kanryuu's mansion, I could have been able to prevent this from being permanent!"

He pulled his hand back and covered the offending cut, almost guiltily. "I didn't think you'd have time to, since you were busy getting yourself situated in Tokyo. So I just patched it up myself."

"You idiot."

* * *

"Were they just holding hands?" Yahiko asked, stunned.

"Of course they were!" Kaoru grinned. "A woman's intuition is never wrong."

"Well I'll be damned," the boy scratched his head. "You might actually be right about something for once, Kaoru."

She tightened her grip on her wooden sword, looking threatening. "What do you mean 'for once'?"

"Nothing," he quickly prevented the impending Yahiko-bashing session. "I-I . . . it's just that . . ." he put his hand behind his head, searching for an excuse. "I was just so surprised at what Sano and Megumi were doing I didn't know exactly what I was saying . . . ehehe . . ."

Kaoru took that as an acceptable apology, but did not stop sending dirty looks in his direction.

* * *

Megumi's eyes looked at the grass beneath her feet when she spoke. "Maybe . . . maybe if we move fast enough, we can make it through the crowd and go back to the clinic. I think I have some ointment that may be able to heal most of that scar . . ."

"Don't bother," Sano said, putting on his typical tough-guy face.

"Why not?"

"I don't need it. My hand's been fine for this long," he sat up, "it'll be all right on its own."

She glanced over at him, watching him cover the hand in question. "Now you're just being stubborn."

"So?" he said. "What are you going to do about it?"

Megumi sighed and curled her knees up to her chest. "I guess I can't make you do it, can I?"

Sanosuke's ears perked up. "What? Is the mighty Fox actually giving up?" he looked toward her as the sun shone off her inky tresses drifting in the wind. Her eyes were closed, the long lashes sweeping over the cherry-blossom skin of her cheeks and the red lips normally smiting him with harsh words still and full. "That's not like you," Sano breathed.

She tilted her head up to the rolling clouds above. "I've just been so overwhelmed by my work lately . . . I guess I haven't really been feeling like myself."

Sano contemplated while chewing on his stalk of grass, looking out over the water.

"All the more reason for you to get up off your lazy rear and help, right?" she smirked.

He stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Well, I can't run from you much anyway," he surrendered. "You'd just hunt me down again."

"There, see how easy that was?" Megumi said, beginning to get up, but struggling in her kimono and apron ensemble. "Now, if you had just . . . agreed . . . like that . . . in the first . . . place . . . we-" she stumbled.

"Come on, Fox," he grabbed her arm and hefted her to her feet. He grinned at her surprise in catching her. "Now where would you be without me?" he said smugly.

"Probably a lot better off," she slapped his arm away and dusted her dress. Sanosuke just turned with a wry smile and started walking up the hill to the market.

"I think the streets have probably mellowed out a little bit by now . . ."

Megumi followed him, watching the 'aku' on his back flutter as he walked. "They had better. Goodness knows I've wasted enough of my time today."

* * *

Yahiko looked a little disappointed. "But they didn't do anything . . ." he whined.

"You little pervert," Kaoru admonished him. "Of course they didn't . . . yet. It takes time," she put a thoughtful finger to her chin. "But, you may have a point there . . ."

"Where?"

"They are taking a long time. I would have thought they would have at least embraced each other by now . . ." Suddenly her pensive expression turned into something decidedly crafty.

Yahiko was wary. "Kaoru . . . I don't like that look you have . . ."

"Ohohoho," Kaoru gave a laugh that sounded suspiciously like Megumi's trademark sly-fox-laugh.

"You're scaring me, Ugly," Yahiko started to slowly back away. "Just what are you up to?"

"Why, I would have thought it'd obvious," Kaoru snatched her first pupil and brought him back near her.

"We're going to help speed things along with those two."

"You mean play matchmaker?" the boy looked dubious.

"Exactly."


	5. Bargaining for Trouble

CHAPTER FIVE – BARGAINING FOR TROUBLE: Disastrous Day of Shopping

"Hello!" a vendor called out. "Doctor Megumi! Over here! Miss Megumi!"

"Hmm?" Megumi stopped mid-stride, almost causing Sanosuke to ram into her. Ignoring this, Megumi searched for the mysterious speaker, her head turning in every direction until she spotted him: a fairly plain-looking man with round glasses, a Western style suit, and cropped dun hair. "Mr. Mikamura! What a pleasant surprise!"

She grabbed hold of the bewildered Sano's hand and wove her way through the crowd to meet up with this man, not caring in the least if passer-by tossed Sanosuke around behind her. Finally catching a breath of unpopulated air when they reached the store, the ex-fighter-for-hire looked the place over.

_Not too shabby_, he thought, noting its size and how well-kept it was. The store was packed with new Western products: clocks ticking on the interior walls in patterns just out of sync, dresses and suits hanging one after the other on racks, jewellery lined up in charming display cases just out of reach of the common thief, and other miscellaneous baubles like chessboards, card decks, dress shoes, hair clasps, opera gloves, and shaving razors.

"Glad to see you again, Doctor," Mikamura smiled at Megumi. "How's my daughter doing?"

"Kikeiko's been just fine lately. She got up for breakfast just this morning," she replied.

Sano tilted his head in question. "You're Kikeiko's dad?"

"Well well," Mikamura said, looking in the tall fighter's direction, his simple black eyes magnified behind his glasses. "Who is this we have here?"

"This is Sanosuke Sagara," Megumi answered as politely as possible while still putting a little venom in the name.

"Hello then, Mr. Sagara," the man shook his hand vigorously. "I'm Yoko Mikamura, and any friend of my daughter's saviour is a friend of mine."

Megumi's cheeks turned a little pink. "I-I'd hardly call me her saviour, Mr. Mikamura . . ."

"Nonsense!" he slapped them both on the backs jovially. "I'm eternally grateful for the services you've given my family, especially with my little Kikeiko. You took her in when all the other physicians we sent her to said there was no hope in her living more than a few weeks. I insist . . . you and your friend can have anything in the store you want on me! Granted it's only one object, of course . . ."

"You're . . . you're too kind," Megumi's blushed deepened. "But really, I can't . . ."

"Well I can," Sano said briskly. "What'cha got, mister?"

"Sanosuke!" Megumi hit him on the shoulder. "Stop being so rude!"

He rubbed his 'wounded' shoulder, a little offended, but got back in the game quickly. "Wow, Megumi. If you turn any redder, you might actually start looking like a real fox."

One could almost see the steam coming out of her ears at that remark.

"If you'll excuse me, Mr. Mikamura, I think I'll go look for my gift on the other side of the store," the irate doctor flipped her hair back and brushed past the two men, going to the corner farthest away from Sanosuke.

Mikamura looked sly. "Oh, so you're _that_ kind of friend, are you?"

"What kind?" Sano looked confused.

"You know," the merchant elbowed him in the ribs lightly, raising his eyebrows in an insinuating manner.

"Wha? No! What in the world gave you that idea?" he looked at Mikamura, appalled almost to the point of looking sick.

"Oh come now," Mikamura said looking expectantly at Sanosuke. "You can tell me. I can keep a secret."

"There's nothing to tell!" Sano shouted back, getting slightly flustered and turning almost as red as Megumi had been.

"Fine, fine," the smaller man backed away, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. No need to get touchy about being denied a relationship with one of the most beautiful women in town . . ."

"Denied what?"

"Rejection is hard to take, I know," Mikamura continued but suddenly sparked up. "But wait! I have an idea . . . come with me!"

Sanosuke put his fists on his hips and glared at the little man. "Now hold on a minute, mister. Who said anything about rejec—_hey!_"

Sanosuke's sentence was interrupted as he was dragged by his arm (for the second time that day) behind the short curtains into the back room of the store. The shopkeeper plopped him down in a large and comfortable Western style chair as his deft little hands rummaged through piles of knickknacks and bric-a-brac scattered all over the chamber.

"Here it is!" Mikamura finally exclaimed.

"Here what is?" Sano struggled to get up from the overly-cushioned chair.

The smaller man held up a small wooden box. "The perfect gift to give to the one you love."

"You're insane," Sanosuke looked at the merchant funnily. "Who said anything about lo-I mean, giving my gift to anyone?"

"You didn't have to," Mikamura smiled. Walking up to the cushion-ensnared fighter he placed the little box in his hand, stepping back and waiting for a reaction expectantly.

"What?" the lanky, spiky-haired man asked angrily, looking at the object. "So it's a box. What of it?"

"Open it up." The glee on the merchant's face looked so akin to the sparkle Sano had seen in Kikeiko's eyes when he had told her he would fight off her nightmares that he had to ask himself why he had not recognised their relation almost immediately. Grumbling, he looked at the tiny wooden box suspiciously. Its little gilded edges and plain maple surfacing made it seem harmless enough. His long, clumsy fingers pried open the box.

Suddenly, a small chiming sound came out of the box as a little key-like object began to turn. A wheel with little markings spun slowly against a set of tiny metal prongs. The box played a song like Sanosuke had never heard before.

"What the heck is this thing?" he looked like it was about to bite him.

"They call it a music box in Europe. They're quite popular," Mikamura smiled. "You like it? You can have it. I'm sure Miss Megumi would love to get it as a gift."

The song hit a sour grace note that matched the expression on Sanosuke's face. "No thanks. Besides, the song's busted."

"No," Mikamura wound up the box again when the song died down. It played again, in accordance with his words. "That's the beauty of it. It's discordant . . ."

"I can _hear _that," Sano mumbled.

"Let me finish. The great thing about discordance is that it helps us see the beauty in the rest of the song, and makes it that much more special to us." The shopkeeper closed the box. "Besides, getting one like this will make sure that there is no other one quite like it . . . just like there's no other person just like her."

"I don't know," the fighter looked sceptical. "It sounds pretty crappy to me."

"That's only because you're not used to it. I'm sure she'll love it when you give it to her."

"I'm pretty sure the Fox would agree with me. She wouldn't want a piece of broken merchandise anyway and – _Whoa, hold on!_ Who said anything about me wasting my gift on her?"

Mikamura simply smiled. "You don't have to, but I'm afraid I'm not going to let you have anything else from here."

"What the hell kind of giver are you? First you say I can have anything, and then you _make _me take this hunk of junk," Sanosuke scowled.

"Let's just say I think it will be in good hands . . ." his glasses shone mischievously. "Eventually."

"Tch. Whatever," Sano shoved the 'gift' in his pocket along with his fist and walked out, his opinion of Mr. Mikamura suddenly dropping a few dozen notches. Walking impatiently to the front, Sanosuke leaned against a wall near the entrance to the store, debating briefly whether or not he should try to make a run for it while Megumi was otherwise occupied shopping, but decided against it. After all, she had already caught him once.

His thoughts drifted as he looked out into the street where all the boisterous colours of the citizens of Tokyo passed by in an impressionist blur of purples, blues, oranges, and yellows. He pulled the music box back out of his pocket, once again examining the plain decorations on the surface. He closed his hand over it and looked back into the cluttered store as Megumi was haggling with Mikamura over the price of something, insisting she give him compensation for it – he could not quite see what – and the shopkeeper's words came back to him.

_Discordant, eh?_ One of Megumi's rather loud refusals cut through the air. He saw her hair wave and flutter behind her as she moved while she spoke with her deep red lips. Her voice, though loud and angered, was still mellifluous and her thin hands moving in animated gestures while she argued were still that soft creamy colour. However, her eyes were snapping angrily and her face was puckered in a frown. _Maybe I was wrong about that Mikamura. He just might know what he's talking about when it comes to sour notes_, he smirked. Shoving the box back into his pocket, he covered his amusement when Megumi came walking toward him, an invisibly triumphant skip in her step and a neatly wrapped bundle of goods in her hands.

"Well, I think we're done here. Now we have to go get some medicinal supplies."

Sano made a face. "You mean there's more?"

"Of course," she said. "We haven't even gotten started yet."

Sanosuke groaned. It was going to be one hell of a long afternoon. And to make matters worse, that song the music box had played was stuck in his head, discordant grace notes and all.

* * *

Her loose braid fell from her shoulder and settled to drape across her front as she knelt in her pale blue kimono. She hummed a little as she carefully selected and picked each flower from the garden at Gensai's clinic with her tiny hands and placed them delicately into an arrangement by her side of which only she could understand the logic. Little blues and indigos perched themselves between pinks and violets and golds with no indication that they had any acknowledgment of colour clash.

Isamu watched from the corner of the clinic's porch, sitting there, picking at his bandaged ankle. His face, normally sour and cross, was strangely smooth and calm watching the little Kikeiko at her task. His deep brown eyes hinted a ghost of a smile as the wind seemed to brush the little stray strands of sepia hair away from the girl's face. _Pretty . . ._ was the only slightly coherent thought in the young boy's mind.

Finished with that side of the garden, Kikeiko stood, grabbing her bouquet with her as she began walking to the other side. Suddenly she stopped, getting the slight feeling that someone was watching her. She looked around but saw no one on the premises outside except for Isamu, and he was turned and looking in the other direction. Shrugging it off, Kikeiko skipped lightly to the exit side of the garden, where more of the pink blossoms bloomed.

Blushing profusely, Isamu chanced to glance back at the pretty little girl. _That was close_, he thought as he saw that she had merely continued to play in the flowers without asking him any embarrassing questions. He hoped no one else would find out he was here . . . watching her . . . because he really did not want anyone to find out that he actually thought . . . things . . . about Kikeiko. But more than that, he did not want anyone to interrupt his spying.

Of course, he would not really call it 'spying,' per say. It was not like she did not know he was there or anything. She just did not know he was watching. Raptly. Isamu did not like this feeling that Kikeiko put in his stomach. He always felt a little queasy whenever she was near him and he kept thinking . . . stuff. Weird stuff. Like how she looked good in blue. Or how nice her dark eyes were. Or how he liked how not all of her hair would fit in her braid and would fall around her face. Or how she would laugh and it would sound like little birds singing. Or how she could move like she was flying. It was disgusting. But what he hated about it most of all was that he actually kind of . . . _liked _the feeling she gave him. He did not like that she made him like it. It was all very confusing.

"Ayame! Suzume! Kikeiko! Isamu!" a voice called from the entrance to the clinic. "I'm back!"

Isamu frowned and rolled his eyes, folding his arms sullenly across his front.

Doctor Gensai walked out to the centre courtyard where Isamu and Kikeiko were. "Ah, Isamu. Have you seen my granddaughters?"

"You sent them over to the Kamiya Dojo, remember?"

"Oh yes, how forgetful of me! Thank you my boy."

Isamu snorted at the 'my boy.'

Gensai did not seem to hear this and walked out to the yard. "Kikeiko," Isamu could hear him talking with _her_. "I know you like to pick the pretty flowers here, but you have to be careful not to pick too many. We still need these plants for medicines, and they may not grow very well if you take all their flowers."

"Okay," she stood up with her bundle of flora and let Gensai lead her back inside.

The doctor patted her head affectionately. "Let's find a place to put all of these pretty things, all right?"

"Okay," she said again happily, following the old man into the main room. The girl stopped as she passed by Isamu and put a little red flower in his hair and smiled before she caught back up with Doctor Gensai inside. Kikeiko's smile was like a burst of sunshine, at least to Isamu's utterly confused brain.

_Stopitstopitstopitstopit! _He discreetly smacked himself repeatedly. _You're acting all mushy. It's gross_, he reprimanded himself.

"Having a little head trauma?" a voice came from nowhere.

"Noburo?" Isamu asked, looking around. "What are you doing here? Where are you?"

"You're getting rusty," a boy came out of the shadows. He was a little older than Isamu, probably around fifteen, and his hair consisted of a few dishevelled brown bangs with a thin, tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck. His eyes were a light brown, but still unreadable. "With your training, you should have been able to sense me there a while ago."

"Sorry. I was . . . busy," Isamu looked at the ground.

The boy, Noburo, frowned. "You know you can't stay here much longer. We won't be able to pay for it anymore soon."

"I know," the younger boy looked downcast.

"You shouldn't be making too many friends here anyway. I've heard they have plans for some of the people here."

"What?" Isamu suddenly stood, shouting. He was quickly silenced by Noburo as he put his hand over the smaller boy's mouth.

"Shh! No one's supposed to know I'm here!" he whispered harshly.

"Sorry," Isamu changed his tone similarly. "But you know these people have nothing to do with it! I just came here to get my ankle fixed from that . . . incident."

"I know you didn't deserve it, Isamu," Noburo looked slightly apologetic, "but you know they don't tolerate failure. You're going to have to redeem yourself." He flicked a stray bang from his eyes. "And anyway, their importance has changed, I think."

"What do you mean 'changed'?" Isamu looked dangerous.

"It's about the new guy that came here yesterday. Is he going to be staying here a while?"

"Yeah," the younger boy said. "He and the girl doctor were talking about some deal where he stays for three days a week. Why?"

"They're only interested in him. Something about his past allegiances," Noburo said. He put a comforting hand on Isamu's shoulder. "They're not after anyone else. They only wanted to know where they could keep tabs on him."

"Are they sending you to do it?"

"No," the elder said. "They sent me to tell you that you have one more chance. They're warning you . . ." Noburo hesitated, crossing his arms gruffly. ". . . _I'm _warning you . . . you can't screw this one up. You're not going to get any more opportunities."

"Don't worry," Isamu frowned in determination. "I'll do it right this time."

"Just . . . just don't do anything stupid like last time," Noburo looked back at him. "I don't want my friend to get hurt . . . again."

"I won't," Isamu straightened up proudly. "I promise."

"Thanks," Noburo looked slightly relieved. He shoved his fist out before him. "Good luck, all right?"

Isamu followed suit, letting his fist hit Noburo's with a smile. "It's not luck; it's skill."

Noburo smiled back, making him look younger than he had previously appeared, even though it still seemed a little forced. "I'll be sure to try and keep them off your back," he began to disappear back into the shadows. "See you later."

"See ya."

* * *

"Tsubame, dahlin'," Tae said as she finished serving food to a table of customers, "could ya go out and get some water?" she tried to sound cheerful as one of the men tapped her bottom in a little-too-friendly manner. "Ah think we need s'more in the kitchen."

"Right!" Tsubame nodded in her little apron and orange Akabeko uniform. Setting her tray down as she rushed toward the door, she nearly tumbled into a near solid wall of packages.

"Oof!" she said in her high-pitched voice sounding absolutely adorable as she landed on her backside.

"Hey! Is there a place I can set these down around here, or what?" the wall spoke.

"Mister Sano?" Tsubame asked, dumbfounded.

A smug-looking Megumi managed to waltz her way around the parcel-laden fighter and through the door with ease. "Tsubame, could you be a dear and get us a table?" she asked pleasantly.

"Um, okay," Tsubame said as she got up, "I guess I can get the water later. Is anyone else going to be eating with you?"

"No, we're the only ones."

"Oh, all right. It's a date or something then?"

"NO!" both the doctor and the mound of purchases shouted vehemently enough for the entire restaurant to stop for a moment and stare.

". . ."

"Uh, right this way," the little girl broke the awkward silence as she started to move toward one of the empty booths. "Mister Sano, I think you should just leave those in the front. Miss Tae'll make sure no one does anything to them."

"I kind of wish someone would . . ." he muttered angrily as he plopped them down, albeit carefully, and followed the two females with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Here you go," the tiny girl said merrily. "It'll be the usual again this time, right?"

"Sure," Megumi tried to look pleasant with Sanosuke glaring at her from the other side of the short table.

"All right," Tsubame smiled. "I'll tell Miss Tae after I get some water and it'll be right out." She shuffled out the door to the well.

* * *

"I can't believe I lost them! They were right here a second ago!" Kaoru lamented.

"Well, it's your own fault for stopping to look at that new dress in the shop," Yahiko pointed out.

"Shut up," Kaoru snapped at him.

"Hmph," the tan boy looked smug. "You're just mad because you know I'm right."

"You are not!"

"Am so!"

"Are not!"

"Am so!"

"Are not!"

"Am so!" Kaoru shouted, finishing off the long string of words with a nice raspberry.

"Miss Kaoru? What are you doing out here?"

The assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin style turned completely red in the face. She woodenly swivelled her head to look at the man who had asked the question.

"K-Kenshin . . ."

"I thought I was going to be the one shopping today," the ex-battousai shifted the bucket of tofu in his arms and put a thoughtful hand behind his head. "You didn't tell me you would be going out . . ."

"Ugly here's been too busy trying to play matchmaker to stay at the dojo and do her _job_ teaching me _swordsmanship_," Yahiko scowled.

"Matchmaker?" Kenshin quirked his head to the side. "But isn't that a job for old hags with seventeen cats and nothing better to do with their lives than meddle in the affairs of others?"

Kaoru's beautifully shy blushing face suddenly turned very angry very fast. "What do you mean by 'hags'? And I'll have you know that matchmaking can be just as honourable a task as swordsmanship!"

"Yeah," Yahiko said sarcastically. "Because sneaking around and eavesdropping on people is _so_ honourable."

"What was that, Yahiko?" Kaoru feigned not hearing the boy's comment. "I thought I heard something, but my ears always do this weird thing where they tune out _stupid comments_."

"I'll show you who's stupid, you stupid . . ." what would have been the rest of Yahiko's sentence trailed off as he saw the most beautiful sight of his day.

Tsubame was out getting water at the well for the Akabeko.

"Ha!" Kaoru laughed triumphantly, putting her hands on her hips and raising her nose to the sky. "Can't come up with a comeback for that one can you Yahiko?" There was a pause before Kaoru looked to where Yahiko was before. ". . . Yahiko?"

"ByeKenshinByKaoruI'llbebacklater!" the young samurai managed to rush out as she raced to Tsubame's side.

"Ugh! That little twerp! You can't run away from me, Yahiko!" Kaoru rolled up the sleeve on her right arm and clenched her fist, fully prepared to give that boy a good smack on the head when Kenshin stopped her.

"Ow! Kenshin, let go of my ponytail!"

"Sorry to hurt you, Miss Kaoru," he released his grip and Kaoru fell to the ground with a dull thud, "but I'd like to know what exactly it is that you're doing by 'matchmaking,' that I would."

Kaoru managed to pull herself up and give the wanderer a withering stare. "Well, if you must know, I was just doing some reconnaissance so I could plan on assisting Sanosuke and Megumi in sharing their feelings with each other."

"Reconnaissance as in spying," Kenshin gave her a pointed look.

"_I am not spying!_" she gave him a good punch. "I'm just observing. It's for their own good."

"I'm sure you have the best of intentions for them, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said, rubbing his injured cheek, "but I think they can handle this on their own."

"Are you kidding?" Kaoru looked at him like he was stupid. "Have you even seen them together?"

"Well, yesterday I-"

"That was a rhetorical question, dummy. I know you've seen them," Kaoru looked exasperated with him. "And I know you've seen how if we leave them alone, it'll take forever for them to go _anywhere_ in the relationship."

"Relationships aren't things to be tampered with, that they aren't," was all Kenshin could say. "They're very delicate and with even the slightest wrong move they-"

"I mean, just look at who we're talking about here," Kaoru pointedly ignored him. "Sanosuke's not the brightest guy around, or the most observant. If someone did mention that they had feelings for him, he'd never be able to pick up on it. And he's more stubborn than a pack-mule. He'd probably rather cut off his hand than tell Megumi how he feels about her. And Megumi, don't even get me started with her! She'd never admit she likes a man so low in social status and lacking in manners. And even if she did, she'd probably beat around the bush so much that Sanosuke wouldn't understand what she was talking about at all!"

Kenshin opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he found that she was absolutely right. "My, Miss Kaoru, you've certainly put a lot of thought into this."

"Why thank you, Kenshin," Kaoru blushed. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately, especially with thoughts of romance and getting couples together going around. "You know, I could use your help with this . . ."

"Ah," Kenshin backed away slightly, laughing awkwardly. "You know, I've got a lot of chores left to do back at the dojo. I bet that Aya-oh dear!"

"What is it, Kenshin?"

Kenshin looked flabbergast red. "If . . . if you're here," he pointed to Kaoru, "and Y-Yahiko's there," he pointed to the well, crossing his opposite arm over the other comically, "then that means that . . . that Ayame and Suzume are . . ."

"_Kenshin!_" Kaoru screeched, finally gathering his meaning. "_How could you just leave them alone like that?_"

"I'm sorry Miss Kaoru!" Kenshin bowed profusely many times in apology. "I didn't know you'd left the dojo and . . . and . . ." he lifted his head to take a look at her reaction, and upon seeing her bokken from Hell suddenly appear out of nowhere, took off at a run. ". . . and I'd better get going!"

* * *

At the dojo, Ayame and her sister sneezed simultaneously.

"Somebody's talking about us," Suzume rubbed her nose.

"I'm sure it was just Uncle Ken," Ayame said, adjusting one of Kaoru's prized kimonos on her tiny frame. "Here, try this yellow one. It looks really pretty!"

"Okay!" Suzume agreed, dragging the dress out and putting it on, the extra length crinkling on the ground.

Ayame began dancing around in her oversized kimono, stepping all over the inside and flapping the sleeves around gleefully. "We're so pretty, Suzume! We're as pretty as Kaoru now!"

"Yeah, pretty! Like Auntie Kaoru or Auntie Megumi!" Suzume started to follow suit, but tripped on the wrinkled bottom and fell on her face. Recovering quickly, she stood up as though nothing had happened and resumed the dance.

"Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty!" they both chanted.

* * *

"I'm _not_ going to go get a new kimono with you! _No way, no how!_"

"Shh!" Megumi hushed him angrily. "Stop creating a scene, Rooster-head!"

"Come on," Sano groaned. "Haven't you done enough shopping already? And where the heck are you getting all this money from?"

"Well, Sanosuke," she gave him a level glare, "unlike you, _I_ don't waste my money in sleazy gambling houses. You'd be surprised how much money you can have when you save it up."

"Hey! You know, one of these days I'm going to win," Sano crossed his arms huffily, "and I'm not going to let you have anything. In fact, I'll treat everyone to dinner except you, Fox!"

"The day you win at gambling is the day your hair falls flat."

"My, my!" Tae exclaimed, just now bringing their food to them. "Y'all sure are talkative today, even without Kaoru and the others!" She smiled and nodded her head pleasantly. "Enjoy your meal now. But," she gave Sano a flat look, "someone is gonna pay for all this, right?"

"Don't worry Miss Tae," Megumi said. "I believe this meal will have to be on me, since I'm fairly sure that Sanosuke here hasn't the money to pay off his tab."

"I'll have it eventually!" Sano whined. "Just not right yet. You wait, one of these days the opportunity's going to present itself and I'll have the money to pay off all my debts."

"That'll be the day," Tae and Megumi said together.

"Jeez, everyone's ganging up on me today . . ."

"Everyone ganging up on the gangster," Megumi smiled smugly. "How fitting."

"Shut up."

"Well, I'll leave y'all alone now," Tae smiled. "Got other people ta tend to, ya know?" With that, the charming waitress bustled off.

"What's the matter, Rooster-head?" Megumi asked teasingly as Sanosuke simply crossed his arms and scowled at no one in particular. "Lose your appetite just because you had to have a woman foot your bill?"

"Just shut up, Fox. I don't need you patronizing me."

"Well someone had to pay for the meal," she retorted, "and you obviously couldn't, so I had to."

Sano remained silent, but began to wolf down his meal, though slowly and with a frown still planted on his face.

"Hmm," the Fox looked exceptionally sly, "could it be that the great Sanosuke has finally felt guilty about freeloading?"

"No," he forced the word out through his mouthful of food, though Megumi could still tell that he had said it a bit too quickly for it to be true.

She decided to ignore this little bit of information and simply keep it stored in the back of her mind for later. Who knew when she would be able to blackmail the silly Rooster next?

"Well anyway," she continued, changing back to the original topic, "getting my new kimono will only take a few extra minutes, and it's on the way back. In fact, by going there, we can go back to the clinic by passing the dojo. It might be nice to check up on Sir Ken and the others . . ." she had a little dreamy look in her eye at the mentioned name.

Sanosuke's frown deepened. "I don't see why we have to pass by the little Missy and the others. I'm sure they've got plenty of other things to do besides talk to us. Besides, with you shopping, I doubt getting that stupid dress'll only take a few minutes."

She suddenly scowled. "Are you trying to insinuate something?"

"No, of course not," his eyes were set angrily. "Why would I do something like that?"

"Ugh, this is going to be harder work than I thought!"

Both Sanosuke and Megumi perked their heads up at the new voice.

"Oops!" it came again from the booth beside them, and there was the distinct sound of someone covering their mouth.

Sanosuke stood up and looked over the divider. "Hey, Missy," he peered down at her, "what are you doing here?"

"Me?" Kaoru asked innocently. "Oh nothing, just getting some lunch . . . ehehe . . ."

"Alone?" Megumi asked suspiciously, having already gotten up and walked over to Kaoru's table. "That's hardly like you."

"Yeah," Sanosuke agreed. "Besides, isn't it time for Yahiko's swordsmanship lesson?"

"Oh, uh . . ." Kaoru racked her brain for an excuse. "Well, Yahiko was doing so much better than usual today; I just figured he deserved a break. Hehe . . . he sure has been training hard . . ."

"Okay, Missy, now I know you're lying," Sano rapped her on the head softly. "You'd never admit that Yahiko's doing well first off; second, he never trains hard; and third, even if he did, I know you'd never give him a break. What's going on here?"

"I um . . . well . . . I . . ."

"Spit it out!"

"Well . . . it's, ah . . . I'm kind of trying to . . ."

"_Shit!_" a voice came from the other end of the restaurant.

Tae screamed, dropping her tray of dumplings and tea, cowering as a man came flying backwards toward her, waiting for the painful impact to come.

_Bam!_ Kaoru punched the limp form of the thug away from the head waitress and set herself before the woman in a protective stance. "Get out of here, Miss Tae! It's not safe!"

Tae did not have to be told twice.

"What's going on here?" Megumi exclaimed, turning to where Sanosuke was for answers, but found him missing. "Sanosuke?"

"_Eat this!_"

"Oh dear," Megumi said in consternation as she watched Zanza live up to his bad name.

There was a crack of bone and cartilage as Sano elbowed a man in the nose, the body flying onto the table of a peacefully eating family. Tea and rice flew everywhere and more screams echoed in the building as the patrons rushed madly toward the exits. Megumi was forced to hold on to the barrier between two of the booths in order to not be swept away. "Sanosuke! What the heck do you think you're doing?"

"Huh?" he turned his head at the sound of his name being called, but was unprepared for a direct punch to his face. He growled angrily and spat to the side, but not before giving the guy who hit him a good kick to the gut. The man curled into a ball and collapsed to the ground and Sanosuke made his way further into the fray. He was not surprised to see Kaoru following suit, although she was still a ways behind him.

"Sanosuke," she called as she gave another man an uppercut, "who are these guys? Why are you fighting them?"

Sano felt a little touched that the little Missy trusted him so much that she would jump into a fight without getting any prior explanation and for no reason other than helping out her friend, but his attention was redirected when he felt a shinai hit him square on the shoulder. The thug's surprised look at the ineffectiveness of his perfect strike was the last one he wore before he fell into a painful unconsciousness at Sanosuke's fist.

"Why are we doing this, Sanosuke?" Kaoru shouted over the battle.

He growled and threw one last punch at one of the few men left standing in the back of the restaurant, giving Kaoru no answer other than his roar of, "_I don't like guys ganging up on my friends!_" as he rammed his fist into his face and the last man fell with a scream and a thud.

Kaoru halted at the sight of all the men lying on the ground. "What do you mean?"

"Idiot!" came a voice from one man, obviously the one who had started the fight. "I could have handled them!"

"Shut up, you Jerk," Sanosuke countered. "You may have been able to get them, but not without blowing up half the building first!"

"Who's that?" Megumi rushed up to join the group.

The man standing in the back corner of the restaurant had long black hair and wore a red jacket with a yellow outfit underneath. The most notable characteristics, however, were his sharp dark eyes and the headband tied beneath his hair.

"Katsu," Sano started, "what the heck are you doing here? You normally don't go out into daylight much. Why start a fight in a place where so many could get hurt?"

"You think I wanted a fight, Sano?" the man addressed as Katsu growled. "You think I wanted to go out too, for that matter?"

"Katsu?" Kaoru questioned. "Isn't this your friend from the Seki-?"

"Not so loud, Missy," Sanosuke interrupted, hinting at the dozens of eyes watching from the outside of the building. Those who had been dining at the Akabeko had stayed to watch the fight and were now as intrigued at this new character put into play as the two girls flanking the tall fighter in white. Sano spoke again.

"What happened, Katsu?"

The darker-haired man's eyes shifted nervously. "Not here."

"Jerk," Sanosuke frowned. "You getting yourself in trouble again?"

"No more than you are, Idiot," Katsu threw back at him. There was a rustling on the ground and Katsu's eyes widened. "Sano, look out!"

"What?" Sanosuke turned around, only to see one of the thugs who had recovered from the initial fight get whacked over the head with a bowl of noodles and rendered unconscious by a certain lady doctor. He blinked as the bowl cracked atop his head and the man fell, noodles trickling down his shoulders. "Nice move, Fox."

"I'm not completely helpless, you know," she quipped.

Sanosuke turned his head back to Katsu. "Meet me at my place tomorrow. I'll explain it there," his friend said as he turned to leave, brushing past Sano and the girls and pulling his red jacket tighter around him as he headed toward the exit.

"Katsu," Sanosuke spoke seriously, causing his friend to stop. "You're not trying to start it up again, are you?"

"No," Katsu said, closing his eyes with a regretful look. "I won't be trying to do that for a while."

"Then what is this?" Sano questioned him without looking.

"This is something a little more pressing," Katsu turned to look over his shoulder at him. "You may be involved. I suggest you come tomorrow . . . if only for their protection," he gave a pointed glance to Megumi and Kaoru, and though Sano could not see it, he knew whom Katsu meant.

"Tomorrow. Noon," Sanosuke turned around to face the other man. "I want some answers," his gaze flickered to the two women protectively.

"Noon then," Katsu said as he exited, the awestruck crowd parting a little for the departing man. No sound came from the people in the area as Sanosuke watched his oldest friend, the only friend who really knew his feelings of the Sekihoutai's betrayal, leave. There was only a slight pause, however, before all eyes fell on Sano angrily.

"Why does everyone keep looking at me like I'm defenceless?" Kaoru screeched, her brows furrowed in ire and a vein popping on her forehead. She rolled up one of her sleeves and made a dangerous fist.

"Who's gonna to pay for this?" Tae shouted as she walked in from outside, her hands indicating the utter destruction of the interior of the Akabeko. She picked up a miraculously unbroken bottle and brandished it like a club.

"Would someone tell me what in the world is going on here?" Megumi yelled, her fiery eyes boring straight through Sanosuke's skull. She snatched his ear before he could make his escape, pulling him down as the three women surrounded him, pure fury in their faces.

"Why is everyone ganging up on me today?" Sano lamented.


	6. Being Read Like a Book

CHAPTER SIX – BEING READ LIKE A BOOK: Is It All So Obvious?

"Could you stop it with the 'Little Yahiko' stuff already?"

"I-I'm sorry, Li-I mean, Yahiko," Tsubame looked shy, which was not unusual. "It just kind of slipped . . ."

Yahiko grumbled, but relented as he hefted the water from the well and poured it into the bucket. "Nah. Don't worry about it too much . . . just don't do it again, okay?" he gave her a level stare.

"Okay," Tsubame nodded fervently. She leaned over to pick up the bucket from the side of the well. "Um," she struggled a little bit with the weight of the water, "thanks for helping me . . . Yahiko."

"Come on now," the boy reached over to take the bucket from her straining hands, trying not to pay too much attention when they accidentally touched. "If you want to get this bucket inside the restaurant, you're gonna have to be able to carry it right. Like this," he hoisted the pail up easily.

"Wow," Tsubame smiled. "You're so strong, Yahiko!"

Yahiko blushed and rubbed his nose with his finger arrogantly. "Yeah, well, this is nothing, really. After all my training with swords and stuff, this is a piece of ca-"

"Oh no!" Tsubame exclaimed, popping Yahiko's pride bubble. "I forgot to tell Miss Tae about Miss Megumi and Mister Sano's order! I hope she got them all right," the girl looked worried.

Sensing an imminent interruption to his time spent with the pretty little girl, Yahiko let out a quick, "Oh, I'm sure she's fine!" before he jerked the bucket a little bit, splashing water on Tsubame's clean apron.

"Oops!"

"Yahiko!" the girl complained. "You did that on purpose!"

"No I didn't," he lied. "But it looks like you're going to have to wait until that dries out before you go back in," he spoke smoothly. "You can't go on letting yourself give the Akabeko a bad name with wet waitresses and stuff."

Tsubame blinked. "Um, I guess not," she said, setting herself down demurely on the edge of the well. "But what are we going to do until it dries?"

Looking at her, Yahiko could not help but see that she was, indeed, a very pretty girl. She was small and delicate, with tiny pouty lips and short, cutie-pie hair, and the blush upon her little round cheeks forced him to do the same. She was _really_ cute.

_I must be catching whatever Kaoru has that makes her go all ga-ga whenever she sees Kenshin_, Yahiko thought resignedly, _or whatever made Sano hold Megumi's hand like that down at the river. I swear, it's like some kind of disease!_

"Yahiko?" Tsubame questioned quietly, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Um, Yahiko? You never answered my question. What are we supposed to do until I dry?"

Yahiko blushed at the unintended implications of that question, much to his own embarrassment. "Uh, well we . . . we could, ah . . ."

Fortunately for the junior swordsman, Katsuhiro Tsukioka chose that precise moment to walk by, diverting attention from the boy's stammering. The man walked briskly holding his coat closed, as though to not do so would be to expose a great weakness. And he looked wary for attackers.

_Isn't that Sanosuke's friend_? Yahiko thought with a slight uneasiness as the man passed. Whenever Katsu was out and about, there was sure to be trouble. Concerned, the boy chanced a look to the Akabeko, and at the size of the crowd around it and what he could gather was total destruction on the inside, he sighed. It looked like he would not get to spend time with Tsubame like he had hoped . . .

Looking back at the little girl, he noticed that her eyes had followed his and were wide with surprise.

"Come on, Tsubame," Yahiko looked very serious. "Let's go and see what's happened."

"Okay, Little Yahiko."

And for once, he ignored the name, more intent on finding out just what was going on here.

* * *

Kenshin was hurriedly trying to stitch up the hem of one of Kaoru's kimonos, which Ayame and Suzume had so graciously tattered when they had been prancing about playing dress-up earlier that day. He had done his best to clean up the wake of destruction the two had made, though there was nothing that could be done for the missing hair combs, broken sandals, and torn pink ribbon. The needle in his hand moved frantically to mend the frayed edge of the dress, his sole concentration being to get it done before the lady returned . . . presumably to bite his head off.

It was a good thing that Doctor Gensai had come to collect them earlier, otherwise Heaven knew what kind of trouble they would have gotten into while he was busy cleaning up after them.

It was not as though they were two tiny terrors that destroyed anything they got their hands on; that was far from it. They had simply been doing what children _do,_ which was, in all actuality, trying _not_ to be children. Kenshin always found that amusing about kids. No matter how young they were, they always wanted to be older. And once they were older, they wanted to go back.

They always wanted to go back to the innocence of childhood . . .

Before responsibility, before sin, before guilt . . .

"Finished," he let out a deep breath wearily, clearing those thoughts from his head. Holding the kimono up for inspection, he found his needlecraft flawless and folded the pretty thing as gently as possible into its rightful place. Searching around her bedroom, he checked every nook and cranny for something out of place. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw that nothing looked unturned. Her futon was still in perfect disarray on the floor, the exact amount of clothing was scattered about, and all in all, it looked precisely how Kaoru had left it.

"Keeeeeeenshin!" a familiar voice called from inside the main room of the building.

_Oh no!_ Kenshin panicked. _I can't let her find me! Then she'll find out about what Ayame and Suzume did!_ Scurrying around like some sort of trapped rodent, he was at a loss as of what to do.

Kaoru's footsteps came closer.

_I have to hide_, he thought, _but where?_ His eyes scanned the room. Was there enough time to try to run out the other door to the yard? Kenshin ran for it, praying that his steps would be swift, yet silent. His prayers were answered by him falling flat on his face after tripping on some laundry.

_Ack!_

Ever closer. "Kenshin?" she called.

Now out of an escape option, Kenshin got himself up just in time to see the door beginning to slide open. With no other choice, he dove for the closest thing he could find that would be able to hide him.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru poked her head through the door, having heard some of the noise. Her room looked exactly as she had left it. She stepped in, searching.

"Well that's odd," she said to herself. "I could have sworn I heard something in here . . . but it looks like no one's home. I wonder where Kenshin went off to . . ." she put a finger to her chin in contemplation. "I thought I told him to get back here and take care of Ayame and Suzume, and it's not like him to not do what I tell him to."

She gave a long yawn, her arms sore from bashing Sanosuke's face in at the Akabeko and the rest of her utterly exhausted from the day's excursions. "Well," she smiled to herself, "I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just walking them back to Doctor Gensai's and will be back soon. In the meantime, I think I'll take a nap."

Pulling her hair out of the ponytail it was in and braiding it down, Kaoru settled to the ground near her futon and pulled back the covers, fully prepared to sleep for the majority of the afternoon.

"_Aaaaiiiiyyyyyyeeeee!_"

Unfortunately, the day had other plans for her.

"_Kenshin, what are you doing in my bed?_"

* * *

"Oh, that one looks lovely on you, miss," the clerk smiled pleasantly and nodded, holding a stack of discarded kimonos in her hands.

"Really?" Megumi twirled a little in the kimono. "I'm not really sure about the colour. I don't normally wear ones that are so pale . . ."

"Why don't you ask the gentleman with you his opinion?"

The doctor rolled her eyes at the word 'gentleman,' but walked over to him nonetheless. "Well," she stood before Sanosuke, "what do you think?" she demanded.

He eyed her up and down casually with a bored expression on his face. "It's white," he said.

"I _know_ that," she put her hands on her hips. "But how does it look?"

"You look like you're going to be sacrificed at some temple somewhere," he answered, leaning further back against the wall (closest to the exit, of course). "You shouldn't wear white."

"This coming from the man who wears white every day," her brows knitted.

"Yeah," he said, crossing his arms across his front. "But at least I can pull it off."

"So you think," she murmured as she stormed back to the clerk to switch dresses.

Sanosuke sighed. This was taking far too much of his time. Granted, he had nothing better to do and he was probably going to score a free meal off Kenshin and Kaoru without a fight if he was with Megumi when he passed the dojo, but still . . . how long did it take to just buy a stupid kimono?

If he had to give an honest opinion, he personally did not care what Megumi wore. She always looked the same to him. Same long, flowing strands of raven hair, same light skin, same slender frame, same red lips, same deep eyes . . . it did not matter what she used to cover herself. Beauty is hard to hide.

"Hey, Sano!"

"Eh?" his eyebrow quirked up. Turning his head he saw three of his in-town friends rushing up to meet him. He smiled. "Hey, guys!"

"We haven't seen you lately," one of them, Ginji, said, slapping the tall fighter on the back. "We've missed winning all your money at craps!"

"Not that you had much for us to get," another one, Kazuo, smiled.

The third checked the surroundings before speaking. "So what're you doing in a dress shop, Sano?"

"Shopping for your woman?" Ginji commented.

"What woman?" Kazuo said, laughing. "Like he could get one! I doubt any woman in Tokyo could stand to be around him for more than five minutes!"

"Okay, okay," Sanosuke grinned. "You've made your point. I'm poor and don't have luck with women."

"Or with anything else, if we judge by your debts to us!"

"It's good to see you guys again," Sano laughed. "When's the next game?"

"I think we'll be having one tomorrow night," one of them, Tomo, said. "I'll be sure to bring the sake."

"Great," Sanosuke said with a wistful smile on his face. "It feels like I haven't gotten drunk in ages."

"That's because you haven't been with us for the past couple of days," Ginji smiled.

"Someone bringing food?" Sano asked.

"I'll get Mika to make us some," Tomo answered. "It'll probably be over at my place anyway. It always is . . ." he looked a tad resentful.

"Well, it's not our fault your wife is the best cook," Ginji commented.

"Yeah, but she always gets really upset whenever we do the gambling at my house," he paused and roped Sanosuke's neck in his arm and gave him a noogie. "Probably because this knucklehead keeps eating all her food!"

"Hey, cut it out!" Sano pushed his friend away playfully.

"You know, Sano," Kazuo spoke, "you should probably think about getting yourself a job. Ever since the fighter-for-hire thing blew over, you keep having to mooch off of us."

The two others nodded in agreement. "It's not that we're not happy to oblige," Tomo said, "but it'd be nice if we didn't have to support you all the time."

"Well you can sleep easy tonight, guys," Sanosuke smiled. "It just so happens that I've got a job that gets me room and board for three nights a week!"

"Wha?" They were so shocked they face-vaulted.

"How in Hell did you manage that, Sano?" they shouted in unison.

"Ugh, are these more of your 'friends,' Rooster-head?"

The men's attention snapped up to the new voice and their jaws dropped to the floor. Megumi looked at them with an irritated frown, but it did nothing to cease their gawking at her. She wore a pastel blue kimono, the neckline a little lower than usual, but still tasteful, with a dark silk border trimming the edge. The sleeves were just about as long as her usual dresses, but rather than the stiff edge to them, they fell to her sides in a flowing manner, showing just how light the fabric really was. Her obi was a deep blue that matched the trim, but upon it danced pictures of little cherry blossoms, their light colouring against the dark blue almost like the way the sakura would bloom on a moonlit spring night. She tossed her hair behind her shoulder, annoyed.

"Would you stop staring?" she snapped. "It's like you've never looked at a woman before!"

"Not one as pretty as you, doctor . . ." Tomo gaped.

Kazuo snapped out of it and smacked his shoulder. "Hey, you have a wife, you know!"

"Maybe you should buy her one of these kimonos," Ginji said. "I know I'm going to for my girl."

"Sano, you dog!" Tomo one shook Sanosuke's hand, smiling. "I never knew you had it in you! Just think, you get to spend three nights a week in a house with that doctor lady!"

"Well," Sano blushed, "it's not like we share a room or anything. In fact, I don't normally spend this much time with her . . ."

"What's she paying you for anyway?" Ginji asked. "I mean, I've heard of women getting lonely, but this is ridiculous."

"Getting lonel-what? _No!_ It's not like that, I swear!" Sanosuke finally caught his meaning.

"Haha, right . . ." his friends joked at his expense.

Megumi took their focus on teasing Sanosuke as her cue to leave, already having learned what she had wanted to. As she walked back to the clerk, she did not even check how the dress looked on her in the mirror. She knew she was stunning. She could tell by their expressions, if not by their words.

"Will this be the one, miss?"

"Yes," Megumi smiled, untying the obi. She knew the dress was expensive, just from the feel of the fabric, but she had decided to try it on anyway. The look on Sanosuke's face alone had been priceless. She knew it would be worth it to have this dress for any special occasions. Who knew how much she could embarrass him when his jaw was on the ground like that?

"Yes, this will be the one," she repeated.

* * *

"Thank you for helping me clean up the restaurant, Yahiko," Tsubame smiled sweetly, setting her broom aside as the two walked toward the door.

Yahiko folded his hands behind his head as he stepped. "Yeah, well it's the least I could do since Sano was incapacitated, and Kaoru was too busy pounding his head into the floor to help out."

Tsubame giggled. "Yeah . . . and who knew Miss Tae had such a strong punch!"

Yahiko grinned along with her. "Well, anyway," he stopped and turned to face her directly. "I guess it's time for me to be going now. Ugly doesn't like it when I'm late for dinner-if you can even call the slop she cooks dinner."

He started to walk away. "Yahiko," Tsubame called out.

"Yeah?" he stopped again.

"Well," she looked at the ground, shy and embarrassed, "i-if you don't like Miss Kaoru's cooking that much, maybe . . . maybe I could make you something?"

"Yahiko's eyes brightened. "Really? Oh wow, Tsubame, I'd really like that!"

"You would?" she finally managed to look him in the eyes, but was unable to cover the blush across her cheeks. "Uh, well, when I make you some food . . . do you," Tsubame stepped closer to him, her little cream coloured face in closer proximity to his tanned one, ". . . think we could eat it together?"

Yahiko could really notice how close she was to him, and he was getting that weird feeling in his stomach that he got when he looked her right in her eyes. That one where he felt like he was spinning . . . he shook his head violently to get rid of it. "Uh, sure," he answered her question.

"Oh, thank you, Little Yahiko!" Tsubame exclaimed in joy. Yahiko opened his mouth to tell her once again to drop the 'little' part, but was interrupted when she suddenly threw her arms around him.

And then she kissed him.

It almost felt like it was being burned into the side of his face, but Yahiko could not feel any pain around it. Only a second did her lips remain on his skin, but the strange, rushing feeling of his blood through his veins, tingling with new life, new feeling, refused to fade, even as she left. He dazedly waved good-bye to Tsubame as she rushed back to help finish up with Miss Tae, his head befuddled and eyes shocked into an odd dreamy look. It took him a while to actually register what had happened.

She had kissed him.

He got a kiss.

From Tsubame.

He got a kiss.

A kiss.

Kiss.

Tsubame.

Tsubame kissed him.

"_Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaah!_" he let out a whoop of excitement, pumping his fist in the air triumphantly. His heart was racing and his blood was pounding and his mind was a jumbled assortment of feelings and images and he could have sworn he felt like he was flying. Had he been struck down dead at that very moment, he doubted he could have died happier.

He had to move. He had to do something. Somehow her kiss had set off some sort of fireworks that pumped his system full of energy and life. He had to move. He had to do something.

He ran.

Buildings and streets and scenery passed by him in a blur as the sun set behind him, the gold, rose, and violets of the sky streaking around him and adding to this new sensation. He felt burning yet cool, dreamy yet energetic, like he was falling and floating at the same time. He felt . . . there were no words to describe it . . . he just _felt_. It was too unreal and too real at the same time. He extended his arms behind him as though they were wings, like the ones on his heart, and raced down the path home, his feet feeling lighter than they ever had. Nothing could break this euphoria he had. With thoughts of Tsubame, he felt like nothing could stop this feeling . . .

"_Oof!_" he slammed into something hard, coming to a dead halt and falling on his butt.

"Hey, watch where you're going you little-oh, it's you, Yahiko."

"Sano?" Yahiko barely recognized the man behind the stack of purchases he carried. He managed to stand himself up, with a little help from the fighter-for-hire. "What are you doing?"

"The Fox thought it'd be nice of us to drop by and have dinner at the little Missy's place tonight," he jabbed hi thumb at Megumi who was standing next to him.

"Are you all right, Yahiko?" she asked, concerned.

Remembering his kiss from Tsubame, Yahiko got a distant look in his eyes and murmured. "Yeah, I'm fine . . ."

"You sure?" Sanosuke commented. "You look a little sick . . ."

Yahiko snapped himself out of it. "No, I'm just fine. Let's go tell Ugly that you guys are over. Maybe we'll get lucky and she won't want to cook for so many people," they started walking.

"Let's hope so," Sano made a face, remembering Kaoru's culinary skills.

"Oh, but I hope Sir Ken won't be too busy in the kitchen then," Megumi batted her eyes. "I was so looking forward to spending time with him. Maybe he'll let me help him out with the meal . . ."

"At that rate, dinner will never be ready," Sanosuke gave her an exasperated look.

Megumi blushed coyly and Sanosuke could almost see the fox ears springing up. "Ohohoho, you really think we'd be having that much fun?"

"Hardly," Sano snorted. "I'd say it'd be ten seconds before Kenshin's on the ground oro-ing like no tomorrow."

"Hmph," Megumi turned up her nose haughtily. "You're just jealous of all the attention I'm going to give Sir Ken."

"Jealous of what?" Sanosuke shifted the packages in his arms angrily. "Being attacked by an ugly Fox?"

Megumi's brow twitched at that. "You're just too dense to tell real beauty when you see it."

Yahiko ignored their bickering (for once refusing to comment on how he personally believed they were just covering up deeper feelings) and continued walking with a lift in his step. Besides, he was far too busy with thoughts of his own relationship to dwell on thoughts of others'.

* * *

"No, Suzume," Kikeiko instructed again, "you put your hands like this, and then clap them together, and _then _you hit the other person's hand, like this," she demonstrated the little manoeuvre.

"Oooh, I see!" Suzume copied her, and came up with something similar, although a bit clumsier.

"Can I play now, Kikeiko?" Ayame asked after having been patient enough to let her sister learn.

"Okay," Kikeiko smiled at the girl who was only a little bit younger than herself. "Ready?"

Ayame prepped her hands. "Right. Let's go!"

The two girls happily clapped their hands together in rhythm, chanting little choruses in time with their soft percussion beat. They would pat their knees, then clap their hands together, then hit their right hands across to each other, then clap again, then the left, clap again, and back to start. Suzume, though not playing, could not help but giggle and clap along with them, singing the little childish tune.

"Her lips, they were like roses

Her eyes were clear and bright

Her cheeks were pretty blossoms

The glowed in the moonlight . . ."

Doctor Gensai smiled as he finished drying his hands from washing the dishes, having had to do the cooking tonight since Megumi was off at the Kamiya Dojo. He passed by the girls with a small chuckle at the amiable atmosphere as he pulled out a small book and began reading, though never quite taking his attention off the children in the room. His eyes held a knowing twinkle in them as he glanced at Isamu sitting the shadows of the corner, pretending not to watch the girls. He went back to his reading before the boy could glare in his direction for noticing. There were not many things that could remain hidden from Dr. Gensai for long.

"And she danced in the spring,

She danced in the fall,

She sang a pretty love song

So her man would hear her call . . ."

Isamu would have allowed himself a smile, had he not been so concentrated on covering up his thoughts in the corner. He sat in the darkness, watching the three girls singing and playing and doing things that little children do while he pondered his situation, though their cheerful antics would always interrupt his thought processes. He forced his eyes away. He could not allow himself to get connected. The sooner he got out of this clinic the better. He would stay until his ankle was healed and then leave; he swore it to himself. Yet . . . yet there was a part of him that wanted to stay, if even for just a little longer than that.

"Along came her lover

That she so dearly missed

There was no time for talking

So they simply kissed.

How many kisses did she get?

One, two, three, four . . ."

"We're home!" a voice came from the door.

"Ah, Megumi," Gensai smiled. "Did you enjoy your time at Miss Kaoru's?"

"Yes," the lady walked in gracefully. "We were quite fortunate that Sir Ken was the one doing the cooking, though."

There was a snort from outside the shoji. "Yeah, it was amazing he got anything done with you clinging all over him the whole time . . ."

"_Mister Sanosuke_!" Kikeiko let out a scream of delight and rushed outside.

The rest of the room blinked.

"Ack!" was all Sano could let out before he was tackled by a blur of blue and pink kimono, all the items bought that afternoon tumbling to the ground. The girl put him in big, near-strangling, hug and the man had trouble breathing out a rather strained, "good to see you too, Kikeiko . . ."

"I missed you so much!" she was still clinging to him as he managed to stand.

"Missed me?" he plucked her off of him. "But I've only been gone for a day!"

"I know," she smiled, hanging by the collar gripped in his hand and spinning slightly around, "but I still did!"

Sanosuke quirked a brow at her. "You're not too bright, are you kid?"

Kikeiko's silly grin did not leave her face.

"Don't call her stupid," Isamu growled as fiercely as any young boy could as he emerged from the house with a dark frown on his face. His eyes looked threatening. "Put her down, Chicken-head."

"I was getting to that," Sano quipped, plopping the giggling girl down beside him. The fighter took another look at the boy before him. "Brat, what's with the flower?"

Isamu's scowl quickly turned into a blush as he swatted the offending plant from his hair. He had forgotten he had left it in from when Kikeiko had put it there.

"Hmm," Sano looked slyly between Kikeiko and Isamu. "I bet a pretty girl gave that to you."

"No," the boy lied quickly. Too quickly.

"Really?" he rubbed his chin in mock-thought. "A pretty boy then?"

"_Eeewww! No!_"

"Haha!" Kikeiko laughed. "Little Isamu looks all green and sick!"

Sanosuke messed up the boy's hair playfully. "Hehe. I'm just messing with you, Brat."

"Well that wasn't funny," the normal pallor slowly returned to Isamu's face as he ducked away from the last of Sano's hair-attacks. "You'd better not be staying over tonight."

"So what if I am?" Sano stood up straight and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What are you gonna do about it?" he looked down his nose at the boy.

"Make your night a living he-"

"Isamu!" Megumi shouted as she stepped out to control the ruckus. "Don't even think about using words like that at this clinic!"

"Yes ma'am," the kid scowled at Sanosuke, who was grinning smugly.

"And you!" Megumi walked up to the cocky fighter, her finger waggling threateningly before his eyes. "What do you think you're doing, accosting the patients like this?"

"Now, now, Megumi," Gensai took on the tone of a father to his child as he emerged from the door with Ayame and Suzume in tow, "let's not get too hasty here . . ."

"_And_ you've managed to drop every single thing we've bought in town today!" she blatantly ignored the elder man. "What if one of the medicines in there had broken when it fell? I definitely don't want to have go into town with you again to go get a replacement, and, furthermore, I-"

"_Miss Megumi!_" Gensai shouted in a booming voice, the uncharacteristic noise grabbing everyone's attention, and his granddaughters at his side looking the slightest bit frightened of him. "Please, stop this. You've had a long day and you're tired. In fact, I think we're all tired. I say we pick up the things, put them away, and get a good night's rest. Hmm?"

"R-right," the group collectively nodded, fearing another outburst from the now, once again, gentle man. They all helped to pick up the packages, Sanosuke and Isamu grumbling the entire time. When the items had been set inside, the company heaved a sigh of relief at being done with their task. It seemed like the purchases would never end.

Suzume yawned, causing her sister to follow. "Well now, I guess that means it's time for bed then," Gensai lifted his children, one under each arm, and took them to their room. "I'll see you all in the morning."

"Goodnight," the rest of the group murmured, tired.

Sanosuke was leaning on the wall with his eyes closed, not particularly sleepy, but exhausted nonetheless. The day had been so long, it seemed like it would never end . . . he felt something tug on his jacket.

"Mister Sanosuke?"

"Sano's fine, Kikeiko," the man mumbled. "Call me Sano."

"Mister Sano," Kikeiko supplemented. "Could you tell me another story tonight?"

He sighed at the repetition of the 'mister,' but let it slide. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling in thought. "Hmm . . . I don't think I have any more I can tell you that would be appropriate for kids . . . little girls even less . . ."

"Please?" he was forced to look in her large, puppy-dog eyes. "Please tell me a story tonight, Mister Sano. You said you'd keep the nightmares from getting me . . ."

"Come on, kid," Sanosuke rubbed his head in irritation. "I'm too tired for guilt trips. I don't have any more that I can tell you."

"Just tell her a story, Rooster," Megumi tossed her hair with less energy than she normally would have. The day was finally getting to her.

"You won't like it if I do." It sounded like a warning.

Megumi let out an agitated breath and stood up, exiting the room swiftly before returning with a hard-bound book in her hands. "Here," she shoved it in Sano's face.

He looked at it funny. "But this is a Western style book."

"I got it from Mister Mikamura," she replied. "It's been translated into Japanese. You can read it just fine."

"I . . . I uh," Sanosuke looked away.

"Just take the stupid book, Chicken-head," Isamu grumbled sleepily from the corner. "And do us all a favour and leave," he added.

Sano glared at the kid. "Punk," he glared, "you're pushing it."

"Just take it," Megumi shoved it into his arms. "It doesn't matter what story you read in there. I'm sure Kikeiko would like any of them."

Kikeiko smiled. "I'd love any story Mister Sano told me!"

Megumi rolled her eyes and Isamu pouted.

He thumbed through the book and his eyes balked. "I would but . . . I," Sanosuke started to blush.

"What?" Megumi was exasperated. "Just read it to her." Her eyes turned sly and teasing. "You _can _read, can't you?" she tried to challenge him into doing it.

"Of course I can read!" Sano kept right on blushing. "Just not this crap!"

"Oh?" the doctor's eyes widened.

". . ." absolute silence permeated the room for a moment.

"You mean you really can't read?" Isamu laughed suddenly. "You _are _a stupid chicken-head! Hahaha!" he was on the floor by now. Megumi could not help but giggle herself.

"Hey, shut up!" Sanosuke pounded his fist on the wall in frustration. "I can read stuff. This . . . . this is just a little bit . . . tough. It's not like there aren't other people in Tokyo who have trouble . . ."

"Mister Sano," Kikeiko looked apologetic.

"What, you going to make fun of me too, kid?" Sanosuke looked sullen.

"No," Kikeiko smiled and then tugged on his hand. "I want to teach you how to read! It'll be so much fun! We'll spend all this time together and . . ." she went on and on.

_Why me? _Sanosuke looked up and gave a silent question. "I don't need your help, Kikeiko. I've been doing just fine not knowing. I don't have to know now."

"Now that's where you're wrong," Megumi stopped her tittering to speak pointedly. "It's bad enough I have a brawling, drinking, gambling freeloader in my house, but an illiterate and uneducated one? That's just unacceptable."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he scowled at her.

"Maybe," she looked self-satisfied. "But," she conceded, "we don't have to start now. I'll tell you a story tonight, Kikeiko, and tomorrow we'll start teaching 'Mister Sano' here the finer points of literacy."

"Okay," the girl looked gloomy at not getting a story from Sanosuke, but brightened at the thought of being able to play teacher tomorrow. As Megumi shuffled her off to bed across the clinic, she called back through the door, "don't be late for class tomorrow, Mister Sano!"

Sanosuke groaned.

"Tough break," Isamu smirked at him and started hobbling out the shoji.

_This clinic's going to be the death of me_, Sano sighed inwardly and followed the boy outside. The night was crisp and clear, only a few pockets of stars covered by clouds in the sky, and the wind just barely keeping a breeze going. Sanosuke thought it mildly ironic how calm it looked in comparison to the torture he knew was to come.


	7. A Day Without Rest

CHAPTER SEVEN – A DAY WITHOUT REST: Arguing, Planning, and the Mystery of the Washed Laundry

Sasaki shuffled the papers of his students deftly, but with great care and pains to make sure they remained perfectly intact. Setting them to the side on his desk, he stood up, getting ready set up all the brushes for the children to use when they would come to the school later that morning. Sasaki breathed a happy smile; ever since that whole Jinpuu mess, he had cherished being a teacher even more. He began setting the brushes down at the little tables, one by one, conjuring up images of his young pupils . . . some of them smiling as they worked, others frowning in concentration, some not even paying attention . . .

He really did live a good life.

He would have to thank those boys for that . . . Sano especially . . .

"Sanosuke! Get back here!"

. . . Speak of the devil.

"I swear, every time there's even a hint of something with effort in it, you run off!" an angry looking woman appeared in the doorway, trying her best to keep a hold on a white-jacketed arm. "It won't be that hard, you know!" she shouted.

"Sano?" Sasaki questioned.

The man in question tried to make one last-ditch effort to run away, but was answered with a sharp tug to his arm and fell gracelessly inside the doorway with a plop.

"Ow, damn Fox," Sano rubbed his butt, but looked up when he realised who else was there. "Hehe . . . uh, hey, Sensei." He grinned sheepishly and put his hand behind his head.

"Miss," Sasaki bowed in greeting before looking down again. "Good morning, Sano," he quirked a brow. "What are you doing up at such a . . . normal hour?"

"Just uh, you know . . ." the fighter floundered.

"Mister Sasaki," Megumi interjected swiftly, "sorry to trouble you, but we're here to ask a favour, and-"

"You mean you're here to ask him," Sanosuke cut her off. "_I_ didn't want to involve him in the first place!"

"What? Now you listen here, Rooster," she whapped him on the head smartly. "You're being an ungrateful louse! I went out of my way today to go here, remembering that one of your friends was a teacher, and I'll not have you backing out of this just because of-"

"What do _you _care if I can read that stupid book or no-?"

"_Stop interrupting me!_"

"_Interrupting you?_"

". . . Am I missing something?" Sasaki raised his eyebrows. "Wait, Sano . . . did you just say that you couldn't read?"

"No," Sanosuke looked away, angrily embarrassed. "I can read . . . just not . . . fancy stuff's all."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" the teacher looked sympathetic. "I wouldn't have told anyone."

"Because he's too much of a child to admit that he can't do something," Megumi said haughtily.

Sano pretended to be interested in his shoes.

"I was—we were just wondering," the doctor continued, "if you had any supplies to help him."

"I can read just fine for what I need," Sano muttered. "I don't need any help."

"My foot you don't," Megumi retorted.

Sasaki smiled. "I can do more than give you supplies; I have an extra desk in my classroom."

"No way!" the lanky fighter sputtered. "I'm not gonna to sit in a class full of little kids!"

"Why not?" Megumi rolled her eyes. "You certainly act enough like one to fit in."

"Hey!"

"This is an excellent opportunity, Sanosuke," the vixen pressed logically. "Not only will I not have to teach you myself, but it will keep you away from the clinic and out of my hair for at least a few hours of the day."

Sano hmphed. "Who's going back on that deal now, Fox? And who said I even wanted to stay at the clinic for more than a few hours?"

Sasaki looked confused. "Deal? Staying at the clinic? What is this?"

He was predictably ignored.

"I'm not going back on the deal!" Megumi denied. "And if you hate spending time at the clinic, why did you stay there last night?"

"Well I can answer that one for you, Doctor," the teacher was finally able to put his two cents in. "I live near Sano's place. If I had the chance to spend the night somewhere else, I'd take it too. That place is falling apart."

"You don't have to defend me, Sensei," Sanosuke said. "And it's not _that_ bad . . ."

"Sano, last I remember, you were asking me if I had a pot so you could catch the water leaking in from your roof."

". . ." Sano sweatdropped. "So it has a few holes."

"Well, anyway, we didn't come here to discuss the condition of your flat, Sanosuke," Megumi briskly intervened. "We're here to get you to learn how to read. Can you help us, Mister Sasaki?"

"Yes, of course I can," the bearded man said. "But it all depends on whether Sano wants to help himself. You can't force someone to learn something."

"Ya hear that, Fox?" Sanosuke looked over his shoulder at her smugly. "You can't make me learn a damn thing."

"I can sure try . . ." she sounded ominous.

"Ahem," Sasaki coughed into his hand to bring attention back to him. "I understand, Sano, if you don't want to learn in a class with the children . . . after all, I probably wouldn't want to either. I have a few books and some paper and brush sets stored aside, though."

"That will do just fine, Mister Sasaki," Megumi smiled.

"Hey, what do I need brushes for?" Sanosuke looked confused. "I'm learning how to read, not write!"

"Idiot! You might as well. They go hand in hand," the Fox gave him another good smack.

He was really getting irritated that she kept hitting him in the same spot on the back of his head. "Could you stop doing that?"

"What, is a weak woman getting the best of Sanosuke Sagara?" she taunted the ex-fighter-for-hire.

"You wish," he crossed his arms huffily, just realising that Sasaki had left them when the teacher returned.

"Here you are, Doctor," Sasaki handed the supplies to the woman, glad that he had snuck away to avoid the risk of being involved in another one of their squabbles. Honestly, he did not know what it was about Doctor Takani, but she certainly did seem to rattle his friend's nerves. And if he did not know any better, he would say it was the same for the lady as well. "There brush stroke charts in there, as well as some paper, ink, and brushes. I'm sorry I couldn't find any suitable books, though. I guess I overestimated how successful this place has been lately."

Sanosuke looked sympathetic. "Still taking those odd jobs, Sensei?"

"As many as I can," the teacher and labourer replied. "But sometimes it just it just doesn't seem to cut it. There are so many kids and I only have so much money to put into this place . . . it's getting harder to support it."

Megumi looked like she was deep in thought. "Mister Sasaki," she addressed.

"Yes?"

"I have a . . . friend here in Tokyo who specializes in Western merchandise," she said. "One of his favourite hobbies, however, is to take Western literature and translate it into Japanese. I already have one or two novels from him at the clinic that were given to me as gifts. Perhaps I could convince him to lend a few to your school?"

The normally tired look in Sasaki's dark eyes lifted and was replaced with a brilliant shine. "Could you . . . could you really?"

"It would be my pleasure," Megumi answered.

The older man smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Please, you know my name is Megumi."

"How could I forget? First you care for one of my pupils when he's sick, and now you help me get new supplies to support the school. You truly are a lifesaver, Miss Megumi."

"Don't flatter her too much, Sensei," Sanosuke quipped. "It'll go to her foxy little head."

"It's not his fault he can see how great I truly am, Rooster-head," she frowned at his comment. "Of course, I can't expect someone as dense as you are to notice things like that anyway."

"I am _not_ dense!"

"Of course you are! You can't even spell 'dense'!"

"Hey, I'm gonna be learning how soon!"

"Soon my foot! With your thick skull it'll take you months to learn even just the alphabet!"

_Good gracious, it's a wonder they haven't killed each other yet!_ Sasaki thought, slowly backing away from the battle. _Maybe Sano should reconsider my offer to teach him in a class . . . I doubt he'll be able to stand learning from Doctor Takani for very long, or vice versa. Looking at them though . . ._ his eyes narrowed shrewdly with his past manslayer's ability to read people, _there seems to be more to their relationship than meets the eye . . ._

"Ow! Dammit Fox, stop hitting me there!"

"I'll hit you wherever I please if it'll get you to stop making such rude comments!"

_Then again, they could just hate each other._

* * *

"Miss Kaoru, is that miso soup I smell burning?"

"Ack!" Kaoru exclaimed, suddenly bringing her attention back on the meal. "Oh no! I can't believe I spaced out for so long!" She tried desperately to fan out the flames beneath the large pot.

Suddenly Kenshin was by her side, helping her. He hoisted the hot soup pot away from the flames, ignoring the slight crispiness he could smell coming from his burning hands, and proceeded to beat out the out-of-control fire with his shirt sleeves. Soot and ashes dusted upward as the flames were extinguished, Kenshin just barely able to pat out the rest of the embers smoking on his shirt.

"Thank you, Kenshin," Kaoru said in earnest gratitude. "But, your shirt . . ."

"It's nothing so bad," he smiled that irresistible wanderer's smile he had.

"Our breakfast, though . . ." she looked dejected, "I didn't think something wet could burn like that. Why can't I ever cook anything right?" she slammed her fist into the ground.

"Now, now," Kenshin patted her shoulder. "It's easy enough for anyone to burn food if they have their mind elsewhere, that it is."

She smiled a little. "I guess that means I don't really pay attention to anything I cook then, huh?"

"I didn't say that," Kenshin was wary and on the defensive, just in case she took anything he had said personally. Tension still loomed in the air around them from the previous afternoon, when Kaoru had discovered Kenshin cowering in her futon. They had made some silent agreement to keep _that_ particular incident from ever leaving that room. But strangely enough today, Kaoru did not seem to be getting so angry over the misinterpreted phrasing. In fact, she seemed oddly subdued, like her mind was far away. _Most likely why she almost burned the soup,_ he mused. He took on an expression of concern. "Is something troubling you, Miss Kaoru?"

The assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin style started with a blush, coming back from her meandering thoughts. "Oh, no . . . I was just thinking about something."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing really important," she evaded.

"It must be important if you're willing to sacrifice our breakfast to dwell on it so, that it must," he turned a little closer to her, both of them still kneeling on the ground out in the back of the dojo.

"Well, I was thinking about our dinner last night," she admitted, tucking her legs under her into a sitting position, ". . . with Megumi and Sano there."

"Ah," Kenshin nodded, a silent urge for her to continue in his eyes.

"They didn't even have one nice thing to say to each other!" Kaoru suddenly shouted, her ponytail whipping in anger. "All they did was argue! They'll never get together if they keep fighting like that!"

"Miss Kaoru, I'd hate to have to remind you, but I don't think that this is any of our busin-"

"How can you say that?" she gave him a look that made the infamous Battousai cringe. "I know it's not really our affair, but if they keep this up, you know all they're going to do is hurt each other!"

Kenshin blushed a little at the word 'affair' coming from her lips, but managed to stay on task. "I'll admit that their pride is a factor," he looked down at his feet, "but I'm afraid we may just make it worse if we interfere . . ."

"But if we don't interfere, our friends will get hurt!" Kaoru looked almost pleading. "I don't want to watch Sano and Megumi do that to each other just because of some misunderstandings."

"But-"

"Look, Kenshin," she looked stern. "You're the one who told me about Sano and Megumi's relationship. You know better than I do that if they keep this up someone's going to have to pay the price. I think we may have to cut in if we want them to come out of this with their feelings intact."

Kenshin blinked at her rationalization. Sometimes it amazed him how intelligent and caring Kaoru could be, in her own way.

"It's not that I want to pry, really," Kaoru bit her lip in frustration. "I just . . . well, I think we're all kind of like a family here, and Sano's like . . . like a big brother or something. A big, childish older brother who needs to be looked after. You know?"

"I understand," he nodded and smiled, "that I do."

"And Megumi's like some kind of aunt or something. I know she acts all strong and independent, and really, she _is_ both those things, but . . . I don't know, deep down inside I think she's still lonely. It would be for the best she and Sano would just stop playing these games with each other," Kaoru sighed. "I don't want the new family I have here to get broken up over something as stupid as that."

Kenshin's eyes closed thoughtfully. "But Miss Kaoru, how can we be sure that they are simply playing games?"

"What do you mean?" she looked at him, confused. "They're in love. Isn't what they're doing just their way of denying their feelings?"

"It could be," Kenshin surmised. "But then again, perhaps they don't even know their feelings exist."

Kaoru seemed shocked at the implications. "How can you not know when you're in love? It's the strongest emotion there is!"

"Yes, it is. It also takes on many forms, some of them more subtle than others," he reasoned. "While many people are acutely aware of their emotions, like you, in this case, I believe it may be more complicated. One of the reasons behind Sano and Miss Megumi's arguments could very well be that they have no idea that they care for each other. It may be that it is the constant need for attention from the other that fuels their heated discussions, that it may, and even then it could be subconscious, so they have no way of knowing that they feel anything more than irritation." He smiled at her cheerfully. "But that's just the opinion of a foolish wanderer."

There was a moment of silence as Kaoru processed in wonder all that Kenshin had just said. Her eyes suddenly frowned. "Does that mean that you're implying that I'm not complicated like them? That I'm simple?"

"Oro! No, I didn't mean that at all, Miss Kaoru!" he stammered, backing slightly away. "I only meant that because they don't know their own emotions they can't comprehend the other's possible affection."

"Oh," Kaoru stopped. "Well, I guess that could be true. Sanosuke's not really one to rationalize his emotions and Megumi . . . well, I think Megumi has a hard time with emotions in the first place."

Kenshin nodded. "You may be right Miss Kaoru, that you may." His eyes glanced back to the pot of soup which by now had stopped steaming. "But I think this talk can be continued at another time. We've already let the soup turn cold."

Kaoru smacked her forehead. "Darn it! I'm so stupid . . . how could I have let myself forget about the food again! I'll never get this cooking thing right . . ."

"Now, now," the pleasant wanderer smiled. "You don't have to beat yourself up about it. It can easily be fixed. Besides, I always like your cooking, Miss Kaoru."

She shook her head, smiling. "Kenshin you don't have to keep telling me that. I know my food is terrible. Yahiko and Sano tell me that enough as it is."

"Perhaps you could do better if you had someone to teach you?"

"Oh, Kenshin! Do you really think you could help me learn how to cook?" Kaoru's eyes brightened, her cheeks turning a little pink.

"I'm sure I could help you," he stood and helped the lady up. "Cooking isn't so hard, that it isn't; it's just difficult to learn on your own. Sometimes you need a little instruction."

"That would make me so happy!" Kaoru flew into a warm embrace with Kenshin, squeezing him in gratitude.

"_Orororororo!_" his face turned as red as his hair. "Miss Kaoru . . ."

She stopped at his strangled cries. "I'm sorry, Kenshin," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to hold so tight . . . I guess I forgot myself," she was now almost as red as the man himself.

"You have quite a strong grip, that you do," he took in some deep breaths. "Almost as strong as your punch."

If she could, Kaoru's flush deepened. "Sorry about that . . ."

"No need," Kenshin brushed it off with another soft smile. Sensing her embarrassed sadness, he threw in, "and maybe we could discuss more of what you intend to do with Sano and Miss Megumi while we make our breakfast . . . together." There was still a slight tinge to his cheeks as he started up the fire again.

Kaoru's face suddenly perked up. "I know just the thing . . ."

Kenshin was wary of the gleam in her indigo eyes, but decided to play along anyway. "What might that be?" he asked as he placed the pot of cold soup back over the flame.

"Well, you see," she said as she stirred the meal, enjoying and yet trying not to enjoy her nearness to the swordsman, "I received this letter from Yutaro just a little while ago, all the way from Germany . . ."

He smiled. "Really? Maybe you can tell me what it said after we cook and I've finished the laundr-" his voice tapered off.

"What is it, Kenshin?" she looked concerned.

Kenshin's gaze focused on the clothesline, already filled with white linens. "It looks like someone's beaten me to it, that it does."

Kaoru just looked puzzled as the sheets flapped in the wind.

* * *

The fine-tipped brush delicately fell once again onto the paper, tracing out a bold, curved line that thinned into a ribbon of shadow. Another dip into the inkwell, new lines formed, framing the picture in dappled lighting and blowing sakura petals. A dainty hand appeared with another stroke, leading up a fine arm to a slender neck. Two more swift yet gently swipes gave two eyes, long lashes closed in contentment as a painted-on breeze toyed with strands of hair that fell out of a low-tied bun.

Artist Tsunan Tsukioka, known as Katsu to close friends (who were not many), had no idea what had spawned this sudden inclination to paint this woman. Sure, he had seen her once or twice before, but she had always seemed so plain . . . so ordinary. One glance at her could normally attract no more attention than glancing at a typical house or cloud in the sky. But through his infrequent visits into the daylight world, he had found that common exterior intriguing; it was as though because she was so plain that she stood out. He had tried to push those thoughts away, labelling them as irrational and foolish, but then, if they were so ridiculous, why did her face always appear whenever he set a new brush to paper?

Picking up his colours, Katsu plucked a deep brown and began the final touches to his work. Shading darker behind her head where they bun attached and lighter where his imagined sunshine fell, he began to debate whether or not he should have drawn her with her eyes open. Those warm, inviting brown eyes . . .

The brush stopped. _This is preposterous_, he scoffed in his mind. _Why, I hadn't even met her in person until yesterday . . . how can she be so . . . inspiring?_ He frowned at his own thought.

She was normal. She was dull. She was not special . . .

_But isn't she?_ His mind toyed with him. _If she wasn't special, why would you be so compelled to paint her? And so many times, too?_ He looked to his dismay at the scattered papers around him, all of the same woman. With the same plain hair, plain eyes, plain skin, plain height, plain smile . . .

His eyes narrowed. Perhaps that was it . . . her smile. Warm and inviting, just like those eyes . . . everything about her seemed pleasant and warm_. Why is this woman so infatuating? . . ._ Setting down his brushes, Katsu mulled this over in his mind.

Had it only been yesterday that she had greeted him with her engaging smile and seated him at his table? Her with her practiced yet animated movements of her hands as she served his food and drink, the charming way she bustled off to the other customers, the manner in which her eyes could smile even more than her lips. Certainly that was enough to motivate making over twenty colour portraits of her in one night . . . was it not?

Katsuhiro began putting his brushes away. Truth be told, though he had nearly been mad with the compulsion to paint the previous night, he was now dead tired from so much work, not to mention his hands were shaking with the strain. He fanned out all his previous night's work before him, examining each detail of his replications of that strange woman, Tae.

_Such a simple name . . ._

"_Hey, turd!_"

Katsu looked up, suddenly startled.

"If you don't open up, Katsu, I'm gonna let myself in . . ." the warning sounded through his front door.

"Damn idiot," Katsu muttered as he shuffled the paintings together, haphazardly hiding them under a sporadically assembled cover of paints and brushes, though still careful not to damage his work. He stood quickly, checking one last time at the stack of pictures to make sure that they were not obviously in sight, and headed toward the door.

He opened it just as the 'idiot' in question had pulled back his fist to break it down.

Katsu regarded the fist paused in mid-air coolly. "So you're here."

"Well obviously," Sanosuke huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Jeez, how long does it take you to get to the door, Turd?"

"Just long enough to piss you off," the darker-haired man smirked.

"Did a damn good job," Sano spat playfully at his friend, before he was slapped upside the head.

"Must you always be so vulgar?" a certain foxy doctor glowered. "Honestly, it's a wonder little Ayame and Suzume haven't picked up your speech patterns yet."

"You brought her with you?" Katsuhiro raised an eyebrow.

"Tch," Sanosuke rolled his eyes. "Like I'd ever want to go anywhere with her willingly. The Fox just up and decided that she was involved."

"How can I not be involved when you go and start a fight in a public place with me as a witness?" she put her hands firmly on her hips.

"Hey, _I_ didn't start that fight!"

"You _always_ start them."

A vein appeared beside Sano's headband. "I do not!"

"Please," Megumi said primly, "don't embarrass yourself by acting more childish than you already are."

"I'm _not_ acting childish!" Sanosuke stamped his foot angrily. "You're the one who's childish!"

"I'm not the one throwing a tantrum."

The great Zanza scowled. "Don't you ever get tired of being such a smart-assed Fox?"

"No," she stated with a straight face.

Katsu cleared his throat, grabbing their attention. "Well, if you two are done, maybe we can get down to business?"

The two looked at him, then away from each other quickly, huffily crossing their arms and glaring in opposite directions.

"Okay . . ." Katsuhiro looked at them sidelong at the tense silence before shaking his head and simply walking inside himself.

It took about thirty seconds for the two to get over it and follow the artist inside.

"Are you two quite finished?"

Sano and Megumi sat, Megumi gracefully setting herself down and tucking her feet behind her demurely while Sanosuke fell on his rear with a thud and crossed his legs. Both nodded silently at his question.

"Good," he had a tone that sounded suspiciously akin to one which would be used when speaking to children.

Megumi ignored it while Sanosuke narrowed his eyes angrily. She flipped her hair. "What's this all about, Mister Tsukioka?"

"Please, just Tsunan."

"But I thought your name was Katsu."

Tsukioka closed his eyes and smiled. "Only this idiot here calls me that," he jabbed his thumb at Sanosuke. "To everyone else, all I am is Tsunan. Just Tsunan."

Sano 'hmphed.' "You're just a turd is what you are."

"And you're an idiot. What's your point?" Tsunan started preparing some sake, seeing as Sanosuke seemed to be in an irritable mood. He sensed some actual malice in some of his insults today. Oh yes, something was definitely bothering the idiot today.

Sano's eyes brightened at the sight of the liquor, but other than that, he still seemed annoyed. "Whatever, just get to the point here, Katsu. You didn't get into a fight yesterday for no reason. You're too careful for that."

"Damn straight," Tsunan took a sip of his sake. "One of us has to be."

Sano's grip on his sake tightened.

"But, getting back to the matter," his friend continued before any of his dishes suffered, "that group we fought yesterday wasn't just your average group of guys."

"They got their teeth knocked out of 'em average enough for me," Sanosuke commented dryly before he felt his ear get tugged sharply.

"Don't interrupt him. It's rude," Megumi reprimanded.

"Don't pull my ear. It's rude," Sano mocked, swatting at her hand.

Megumi released his ear, but her hand clenched into an angry fist. "Don't you dare try to hit me! Where are your manners? You can't hit women!"

"I wasn't trying to hit you; I just want your hand off my ear! Besides, I don't see any women here!" Sanosuke's left eye started twitching.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me!"

Katsu sweatdropped. It had taken him this long to actually get to explaining the matter, and it looked like it would be a _very_ long time before he would be finished.

* * *

Between yesterday and today, Yahiko's mood had plummeted. Yesterday he had been elated, overjoyed, brimming with happiness, and today . . . today was shit.

First off, Kenshin had helped Kaoru to make breakfast instead of making it himself, and though he tried his best, there was still just a little bit of _something_ wrong whenever the assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin style touched food before it was served. Regardless, that still was not where the queasy feeling in his stomach was coming from.

He had to go talk to someone. Anyone. Okay, maybe not just _anyone_. He did need some discretion for this. This was just too weird . . .

Yahiko ran an irritated hand through his wild hair as he walked down the street. And where did Kaoru keep getting off that he was her errand boy? Sure he was her student and therefore required to follow her instructions, but a messenger? Can't she just go invite them herself? The boy's brows furrowed. _I mean, it is _her _idea. I don't care if we go on a vacation to Izu. I don't care if she wants Dr. Gensai, Ayame, Suzume, Sano, and Megumi to come with us. I don't care if she says she's too busy to go over to the clinic herself. I don't see why I have to keep doing her dirty work for her. But then again, she probably just wants time for herself and Kenshin. Why can't she just get up the nerve go and kiss h—_ he abruptly stopped his train of thought here, blushing for some reason that the other passer-by on the road could not fathom.

_Why did Tsubame have to go and kiss me like that?_ His brain lamented as he kicked a random stone in his path. _It's not that I didn't like it, but . . . but I had no idea it'd cause so many problems! And what makes it worse is that I can't talk to anyone about this . . . I don't want to talk to Kaoru about it because she'll just lord it over me for all she's got. I don't want to tell Kenshin about it because . . . because, well, Kenshin is Kenshin. I don't think he'd know what to tell me anyway. Megumi is a doctor, so I guess she'd be able to tell me, but I'd feel weird talking to a girl about it . . . and even Dr. Gensai. I think he might be too old to remember if this happened to him or not . . . so that leaves . . ._

"Oh, great," Yahiko muttered and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in front of him sourly. "Of all the people, Sanosuke's my one hope. I'm doomed."

_Maybe, maybe not,_ a stray thought entered his head. _Sano might be the perfect person for the job. Just think about it. He'd probably understand you right off and not try to beat around the bush when he answers your questions. He'll be the most familiar with it because he's closer to your age than Gensai or Kenshin, and lord knows Megumi and Kaoru wouldn't understand very well. Talking to Sanosuke may not be so bad . . ._

A spark of hope flittered in Yahiko's brown eyes. _Yeah, he probably is my best bet after all. Maybe when I go over to invite him with us I can ask him about it. And maybe if I understand this shit better, I won't be stuck washing my bed sheets in the middle of the night . . ._

With that, the boy hurried down the street to Gensai's clinic, in hopes that a certain street fighter would be in.

* * *

"Damn smart-mouthed Fox!"

"Stupid Rooster-head!"

"_Are you two done yet?_" Tsunan slammed his sake down, losing his patience. "Look, I understand if you two don't like each other, but come on, I've got better things to do than listen to you argue! Both of you need to _grow up_ and _get over it_."

The room was dead silent as embarrassed looks passed across Sanosuke and Megumi's faces.

"That's better," Katsu sighed, relieved. He normally did not like to shout, but with those two, there was no way they would hear him otherwise. They had been at each other's throats for the past twenty minutes. It was even exhausting for him to watch. "Okay, back to the _reason_ you two are here. And no interruptions this time, got it?" he looked at them sternly.

They nodded.

"All right, here's the deal," Katsu cleared his throat. "When you saw me at the Akabeko yesterday, those men we trashed were trying to get me to make a deal with them. I refused, so they attacked."

"What kind of a deal?" Sano was unable to keep his mouth shut.

Megumi gave him a glare for interrupting, but Tsukioka ignored it.

"They didn't just want a deal, though. They wanted me to join them," Katsu continued. "They figured they could use a guy like me who can produce bombs capable of destroying whole government buildings in one throw."

"Not that we succeeded," Sanosuke drawled, with a slightly nostalgic smile.

Katsu returned it. "But that's not all. They figured I'd be happy to join up with them . . . because of the Sekihoutai."

Sano frowned. "What's that got to do with it?"

"They're going against the Meiji, Sano. They want to undermine it."

"Why?" Megumi asked.

"I didn't get time to get an answer from them. They told me what they wanted to do and asked if I was in or out. They didn't explain themselves, especially to someone who wouldn't join their group. I did pick up that they didn't like the foreign trading policies of the Meiji very much . . ."

"Wait, Katsu," Sanosuke held up his hand in indication for him to stop. "You're telling me you _didn't_ take a chance to destroy the government?"

"What do you take me for? Some kind of crazed terrorist?" Katsuhiro rolled his eyes.

"Well . . ."

"Wait, don't answer that," Katsu shook his head. "But get this straight: yes, I want to end the corruption of the Meiji. Yes, I want to avenge the Sekihoutai. Yes, I want everyone to be equal in this era where things are still unfair for people, but I don't want to _destroy_ it."

Sano grinned proudly at his friend. "Well, I guess it looks like Kenshin and I did our jobs pretty well."

"What job? You've never had a job in your life, Sano," Tsukioka smirked. "Besides, that doesn't mean I'll go soft on the government or anything. I just don't want to hurt any innocents."

A knowing smile plastered itself on Sano's face. "Sure."

Megumi looked from one man to the other with a confused expression. "Well, what does this have to do with Sanosuke? You said yesterday that he may be involved . . ."

Tsunan's smile dropped. "It's because of the Sekihoutai. They think that just because we're against the government, we'll join them. They'll probably come to ask for your help too, Sano."

"Do you want me to agree and keep tabs on them from the inside?" Sanosuke said seriously.

"That's up to you. I'm pretty sure I can pick up enough information on my own-in time. You can check up on it in my paper," Katsu said.

"Oh, I don't think he'll be able to do that in a while," Megumi laughed her trademark 'ohoho.'

"Fox, you're pushing it . . ."

"What?" Katsu looked confused.

"Didn't you know?" Megumi smiled innocently. "Our rooster-headed friend here can't read!"

Sano grumbled something that sounded like, "I can so read, just not that fancy crap," but it was near unintelligible behind his clenched teeth.

Instead of laughing and teasing his 'idiot' friend, Katsu simply smiled. "I didn't think you'd have the chance to learn. I was more fortunate for a lost kid when the Sekihoutai were exterminated since I could draw and sell my work, so I managed to get an education for myself. I guess it was a little harder on you," he looked at Sano in an understanding manner.

Sanosuke was glad for the lack of amusement or pity in his gaze. "Thanks, Katsu," he stood up. "For everything."

"Don't mention it," he said. "And I won't tell a soul . . . as long as you don't come by here asking for money again . . ."

"Yeah, yeah," Sano shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped toward the door. "Coming, Fox?"

"Don't call me 'Fox,'" she snapped, stepping briskly toward the door.

"I can call you whatever the hell I want."

"Not if you value your neck . . ."

Tsunan Tsukioka shook his head as their voices drifted back out into the street and the door closed behind them. "Sano sure knows how to pick them," he smiled. Getting out his brush and paper, Katsu was suddenly inspired to paint something else, namely a Fox and a Rooster. Not that his new muse from the Akabeko was far from his thoughts, but if he was correct in his assumption about the two who had just left, this could be an interesting diversion to say the least.

He would be sure to send a copy this new picture to Sano, just for kicks.

* * *

"I told you to go away! They're not here!" Isamu threw another rock at Yahiko's head.

"Ow! Stop it!" Yahiko rubbed his damaged scalp. "I'm just waiting here for them! I'm not gonna do anything bad!"

"Yeah right . . ." Isamu leaned on his crutch in the front doorway with a suspicious look on his face. "You probably just want to-ouch! You bastard!"

Yahiko grinned at the lump forming on Isamu's head from his own rock. "Serves you right. And besides, my parents were married. How about yours?"

"You little-"

"And who're you calling 'little'?" Yahiko interrupted, looking smug. "I'm taller than you are, short ass!"

"Hey, Yahiko! Thought I heard some swearing over here!" Sanosuke smiled as he walked up to the clinic, Megumi just behind him. His arms were laden with a stack of books, and Yahiko could just barely make out the spikes of hair peering around the teetering tower.

"Sano!" Yahiko brightened at the sight of the tall fighter.

"Finally, someone's glad to see me around," Sanosuke laughed as he brushed Isamu aside in the doorway and set the books down inside the clinic. Isamu glared at both of them. "So what's new with you, Yahiko?" Sano sat down and asked when everyone had entered.

Yahiko plopped down before him. "Got an invitation for you from the dojo."

"Hmm, you mean the little Missy's finally gonna take me back?"

"Well, not exactly," Yahiko said. "We got this letter from Yutaro, you see."

"The rich kid, right?"

"Yeah. Well, I guess this was from a while ago, but the mail's pretty slow across oceans, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah. What'd it say?"

"Apparently he's real grateful that Kenshin and all of us were able to help him out, or one of his relatives in Germany made him feel grateful, and we're allowed to go over to Izu whenever we want to. We're even allowed to go on his personal grounds like the hot springs or the gardens. Kaoru thought it'd be nice to go on a vacation. She's checked with Dr. Gensai's sister and she said that she'll be out for a week or so and we should stay and take care of her house. You guys are invited."

"All of us here at the clinic?" Megumi asked.

"She said you and Doctor Gensai, Sano, Ayame, and Suzume. I don't know about _him_," Yahiko jabbed his thumb in Isamu's direction.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, unless you wanna make something of it," the junior samurai grinned at the chance to fairly beat his ass.

"Isamu! Yahiko! This clinic is a place of healing, not fighting," Megumi stopped the impending match in her brisk, professional manner.

"Hmm, if that's the case maybe they should throw you out, Fox," Sano smirked.

"Oh, and why is that?" her voice was challenging.

"You can't even have a decent conversation without fighting. If you're gonna go by that principle, you might as well leave right now."

"Don't forget, you're here because I'm tolerating you, Sanosuke."

"I'd be glad to get out of your hair," Sanosuke smiled.

"You're also eating because I'm tolerating you."

Sano shut himself up.

Doctor Gensai stepped in. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but hear . . ."

"It's okay," Yahiko brushed it off. "I know Isamu here can get pretty loud."

"What?" the other boy growled. "You were the one who wanted a fight!"

"I wasn't the one who greeted a guest by chucking a rock at his head!"

"You looked sneaky."

"I could say the same for you," Yahiko glared at the boy, holding the gaze before Isamu looked away.

"Well anyway," Gensai took the opportune silence to give his piece, "I wouldn't mind staying here to look after little Isamu and Kikeiko."

"Doctor Gensai, you don't have to," Megumi protested. "You stayed back last time. Don't you want some time off?"

Gensai put a hand behind his head sheepishly. "Hehe, well . . . to tell you the truth, I rather enjoy the company of the two young ones. As much as I love Ayame and Suzume, Kikeiko and Isamu are fairly low maintenance."

"Oh," Megumi said. "Well, if you insist . . . and if Isamu and Kikeiko don't have any objections."

"Hey, Brat," Sano called to Isamu. "You want to go with us?"

"Are you and the jackass here going?"

"Yup," Yahiko said.

"Then no. I'd like to be as far away from you two as possible," with that, the boy stormed off to his room across the clinic to prove his point.

Yahiko shook his head. "That kid's got an attitude problem."

"Really? He kind of reminds me of someone I know," Sanosuke smirked.

The first apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin style perked up. "You know, you're right!"

Sano blinked. "I am?"

"Yeah," Yahiko said. "I mean, just look. He's so selfish and stubborn and disrespectful . . . it's obvious."

"What's obvious?"

"He's just like Yutaro!"

Sanosuke face-vaulted. "I meant he was like you, kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Yahiko shouted, then processed the rest of what he said. "And I'm not like either of those guys!"

Megumi groaned. _Time to end this before someone gets hurt_. "Thank you for the invitation, Yahiko," she said as she stood up. "Be sure and tell Kaoru that I'd be glad to go. Especially if Sir Ken is going . . ."

Sano rolled his eyes. "Then count me in. Someone's gotta be there to protect Kenshin from this persistent lady."

"Dedication can be virtue," she turned her nose up.

"Even though it's not always appreciated," Sano said back at her.

Megumi's brow furrowed in a puzzled manner at his ambiguous words.

"Well, anyway," Gensai said, breaking the silence. "I'm positive Ayame and Suzume would like to go, if you think they could, Yahiko."

"Sure," the boy said. "Kaoru'd love it if they came. Positive."

"Good then. I'll hold down the fort until you get back," the doctor smiled through his facial hair. "By the way, when is this little excursion anyway?"

"Kaoru said she wants to leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Megumi questioned.

Sano looked just as confused. "That's kind of short notice, isn't it?"

"Yeah well, Ugly's always been a little weird up in the head," Yahiko commented.

Nodding his head in agreement, Sano said, "Yeah, that's true."

"Well, I'd better get packing then," Megumi said, "I think I'll help pack little Ayame and Suzume's things as well. Doctor Gensai, will you help me?" She asked as she flowed out of the room, her long hair and senior doctor trailing behind her.

"Oh, and Sanosuke," she called from outside.

"Yeah?" he answered lazily.

"Don't forget to put those books we got from Mr. Mikamura away before you leave, or stay, or whatever you're doing."

"Yeah, yeah," he crossed his arms. He muttered under his breath, "Damn bossy Fox."

Now finally alone, Yahiko cleared his throat. "Um, Sano . . ."

"What kid?" he responded, rising and picking up the stack of text.

"Well, I've got . . . I've got some things to ask you . . ."

Sanosuke started walking outside, carrying the books to his temporary room on the other side of the clinic. Yahiko followed his lanky gait around the garden and to his destination. "Is this going to take a while?" the books landed on his floor with a thud.

Yahiko put his hands behind his back and drew circles on the floor with his toe. "I-it might . . ."

"Well, I've got to get going," Sano looked at him. "You think it can wait until tomorrow?"

Yahiko looked a little angry and crestfallen. "What do you have to do at this hour?"

"Going gambling with the guys," Sanosuke said. "I don't have much to pack, but I promised them that I'd go, since they haven't seen me around for a bit . . . and it looks like they won't be for a little more, what with this trip going on."

"Oh," the boy looked disappointed. "You think you can spare tomorrow night on the vacation then?"

Sanosuke looked at the troubled expression on the junior samurai's face and stopped. "If it's not too long, I can talk now."

"No, no . . . I think it's an all-nighter," Yahiko blushed a little. "Just . . . just make sure we can talk alone tomorrow, okay?"

Sanosuke looked at him a little strangely at the way the normally spunky brat was acting, but nodded. "Sure, kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Yahiko snapped back to his normal attitude.

"Whatever," Sano started walking toward the exit. He turned his head over his shoulder to look back. "You need anything, just ask, all right? We'll talk tomorrow."

"Yeah," Yahiko waved half-heartedly as the tall man left. Shuffling his feet in the dust, Yahiko left as well, sighing as he looked at the stars.

It looked like he would be doing another batch of midnight laundry tonight.


	8. Confrontations

CHAPTER EIGHT—CONFRONTATIONS: Understanding to Misunderstand

"_Kenshin, aren't you ready yet?"_

"I'll only be another minute, that I will," Kenshin answered as he pulled down the laundry from the clothesline. Once again, the phantom laundry doer had struck, but Kenshin was not one to complain. If ghosts wanted to do his job for him, so be it. He only wished the mysterious character would cover more than just bed sheets and underwear . . .

"Kenshin," Kaoru walked outside, carrying her belongings for the trip to Izu with her, "why are you doing laundry at a time like this? Did you pack your stuff already?"

"Don't worry, Miss Kaoru. I did," he folded the last of the sheets and brought them in.

Kaoru knelt down and opened her bag, running one last check to see if she had forgotten anything. "Seems like everything is here . . . Kenshin, you sent Yahiko to get the others, right?" she called inside the dojo.

"He left about ten minutes ago," the wanderer replied, tying his own bag and stepping outside. "You certainly are excited about this trip, Miss Kaoru."

"Well, I plan to get a lot done on it," she replied, standing up and swinging her belongings over her shoulder. "You told Yahiko to bring the others to meet us here, right?"

"Right," Kenshin answered. "But, Miss Kaoru . . . what exactly do you plan to accomplish on this trip?"

"Oh, many things," she looked uncharacteristically sly. "But I'm not telling . . . hehehe . . ."

Kenshin sweatdropped. "I think I can hazard a guess, that I can . . ." he muttered. "Let's just hope Yahiko and the others get here soon. I know Miss Megumi is fairly good about being punctual, but I get the feeling Sano might be a little harder get here . . ."

* * *

"Get up, Sanosuke, you lazy ass!" Yahiko smacked one of Sano's shoes on his forehead.

"Get up! Get up! Time to wake up!" Ayame cheered.

Suzume was right beside her. "Yeah, wake-y wake-y!"

Megumi turned up her nose as she stood in the corner of Sanosuke's flat. "This place is a dump. I can't believe anyone can live with all this garbage . . ." she folded her arms, irritated.

"C'mon! Get up, Sanosuke!" Yahiko gave the limp body before him a good swift kick and Sano rolled over on his side with a muffled, "mmph . . ."

"Uncle Sano's tired . . ." Ayame pointed out obviously.

"Sleepy Uncle Sano," Suzume nodded in agreement, shaking his shoulder a little to help him awaken.

Sanosuke turned again, this time onto his back. His arm twitched a little like a sleeping puppy dog. "Mmm . . . harder to the left . . . uh . . ."

"Huh?" the two little girls blinked.

"Ugh," Yahiko waved the air in front of his face. "His breath stinks like bad sake . . . just what the hell did he do last night?"

"Don't . . . mmmhmm . . . don't stop . . ."

"Nothing that kept him out of trouble, I'm sure," Megumi replied, stepping over discarded cups and shoes, and other miscellaneous trash. "Let me handle this, Yahiko."

"Uh, yeah, sure," the boy backed away, still looking slightly disgusted.

Megumi rolled up the sleeve of her apron and knelt beside Sanosuke's unconscious form. Placing her hand on his face, she forced one of his eyes open, only to reveal a very glazed brown orb. "If you get me some water, Yahiko, I'm sure I could-EEEEK!" she shrieked as she felt Sano move again, this time brushing his hand over her chest.

"Hmm . . . there . . . mmm . . ."

"Oh man, he's dead now," Yahiko would have laughed if Megumi's expression had not been so . . . scary.

_Slap!_

"You dirty pervert!"

"Ow . . ." Sanosuke's eyes finally opened as he rubbed a hand over his now red face. "What the hell was that for?"

"For groping Megumi," Yahiko answered casually.

"Touchy touchy!" Ayame and Suzume chanted together happily. "Uncle Sano plays touchy touchy with Auntie Megumi!"

"There will be absolutely _no_ 'touchy touchy' here," fire was blazing from Megumi's eyes as she spoke through clenched teeth. "Not now, not ever!"

Sanosuke sat up and scratched his head with a yawn. "Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning . . ."

"Why you . . ." the look on her face was positively petrifying, but Sanosuke seemed too tired to notice.

"Uh, come on, Sanosuke," Yahiko tugged the fighter up by his arm, "Let's get out of here before you lose a limb . . ." _I can't afford you have you incapacitated yet . . . I've still got some issues to work out, and I need your help . . ._

"Yeah, yeah," Sano said lazily as he was dragged out of his apartment by the boy. "I'm up already . . . no need to drag me out."

"There won't be enough pieces of you for him to drag out if you try anything like that again . . ." Megumi muttered as she brought the two little girls from the house.

"We'd better hurry, though," Yahiko said, picking up his bag. "We're gonna be late, and the last thing I need is for Kaoru to hit me on the head for keeping her waiting. Knowing her, she probably packed her wooden sword along just for that . . ."

* * *

"What is taking them so long?" Kaoru tapped her foot on the ground in front of the dojo gate impatiently. "They should have been here by now."

Kenshin tried to placate her steadily rising temper. "Calm down, Miss Kaoru. I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"They'd better, or else I'm going to get my sword and hunt down that little-"

"Hey, Kaoru! I got 'em!" Yahiko called, running up the street.

Kenshin gave a sigh of relief that he would not be forced to hold Kaoru back from a Yahiko-bashing session just yet. Kaoru just said, "Well, it's about time."

"So, are we about ready to go?" Kenshin asked.

He suddenly felt someone come up behind him and latch onto him in a very . . . full-figured hug. "I'm ready to go if you are, Sir Ken," Megumi lilted saccharinely.

A vein appeared on Kaoru's forehead and Kenshin suddenly sprouted a decidedly nervous look. "Um, Miss Megumi, if you'd really like to leave, it would be easier if you got off of me, that it would . . ."

"Yeah, Fox. Lay off the guy for once," Sano quipped as he finally arrived, bringing the two younger girls with him. Ayame clutched his white jacket, trying to keep up with is large strides while Suzume clung to his head as she perched on his shoulders.

"Yeah, Auntie Megumi," Ayame said, "besides, Uncle Ken likes Auntie Kaoru."

"Uncle Kenny and Auntie Kaoru, kiss kiss kiss!" Suzume chanted, flailing around while Sanosuke tried his best to keep her steady.

Kaoru was beet red by now. "That's it, we're leaving right now!" she stormed over and yanked Kenshin from Megumi's grip, beginning her march toward Izu. It did not look like she would wait up for the rest of them any time soon.

"Oh man, I'm glad she's not mad at _me_ right now," Yahiko said, shifting his stuff and running after them.

"You just had to get her riled up, didn't you?" Sano gave a pointed look at the lady doctor.

Megumi simply started walking on her way. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she denied, rather unconvincingly.

"Uncle Sano?" Ayame asked.

"What, kid?" he asked as he followed behind Megumi and the rest of the group.

She looked up at him with her wide brown eyes. "Uncle Ken does love Auntie Kaoru, right?"

"Uh, I'm sure he does," Sanosuke answered. "But he might not know that right now. So let's just keep that our little secret, 'kay?"

"Why?" Suzume leaned in front of Sanosuke's eyes, her face curious.

"Because . . . because it's . . . just keep it quiet, okay?"

"Okay . . ." the two looked puzzled and disappointed at the same time.

"Hey, Uncle Sano?" Ayame tugged on his shirt sleeve.

"What?"

"Are we there yet?"

"Not yet."

"How about now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"NO."

"What about-"

"_NO_."

* * *

"Now?"

"No."

"Are we there now?"

"No."

"How 'bout now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No. Please, stop . . . make it stop . . ." Sanosuke looked pleading.

"What's the matter, Sanosuke?" Yahiko teased, dropping behind the others. "Can't handle a few girls?"

Sano looked at the boy pointedly. "Hey, I'm not the one who always blushes whenever little Tsubame's around . . ."

Yahiko let out a string of explicative and gave a glare that threatened a head-gnawing session.

"Calm down you two," Kenshin called over his shoulder to them. "No need to fight; we're on vacation, that we are."

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed, visibly having calmed down from her earlier rant, most likely because of her time spent with Kenshin on the walk. "Besides, we're almost there now."

"But don't we still have to cross that bridge to get to Miss Hana's house?" Kenshin queried.

"Don't remind me," Kaoru paled at the mere thought of how high up that bridge was over the canyon.

"Auntie Kaoru's afraid of the bridge," Ayame smiled, as if proud that she could relay this information to the others in the group.

"High, rocking, shaking bridge!" her smaller counterpart flapped her arms above Sanosuke's head. Sano put a hand up to keep her from falling off.

"Oh my," Megumi snickered, "is the brave little swordswoman afraid of heights?"

Kaoru glared. "So what if I am? I'll just have Kenshin carry me across!" she bluffed.

"Oro?" Kenshin balked.

"You'd do it for me too, wouldn't you Kenshin?" Kaoru beseeched, coming up to his side and holding his arm.

"Hardly," Megumi fastened herself onto his other arm. "You'd rather carry me, wouldn't you, Sir Ken?"

"_Oro?_"

"Come on," Yahiko rolled his eyes from behind them. "Give poor Kenshin a break. I'd be surprised if he wanted to carry either of you with the way you act."

Yahiko was promptly smacked in the face by two irate women.

"You shouldn't pick fights when you're outnumbered, kid," Sano helped the boy up from the dirt. "Besides, _I_ could always carry both you two . . ."

Sanosuke was promptly smacked in the face by two irate women.

Kenshin, who had made use of the time Kaoru and Megumi spent smacking the two other boys to stay out of range, stepped up to the front of the troop and pointed up ahead. "Well, anyway, there's the bridge."

Kaoru quickly let out a startled "eep!" and latched on to the closest stable thing possible, which just happened to be a certain lady doctor.

"Kaoru," her brow twitched. "As much as I do enjoy your company, do you think you could get your sweaty hands off of me?"

"B-but . . . but I'm _scared_!" the assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin style whined.

Sano and Yahiko sweatdropped. "I hope we get to that house soon," Yahiko sighed.

Sano nodded, causing Suzume to grip his hair tightly.

"Yeah, real soon," the fighter agreed, his voice a little tense as his scalp started to sting.

"Oh, there you all are!" Gensai's sister, Hana, called out, waving at the group approaching. "I was wondering what was keeping you."

"It's good to see you again, Miss Hana," Kenshin greeted as he came to the house, setting the baggage he was carrying on the porch.

"Well, I'm afraid you won't be seeing very much of me," the elderly woman commented. I'm going into town to try and look for another job."

"Oh, that's right," Kaoru was not too far behind Kenshin. "Since Yutaro's gone, you don't have a job as a cook here anymore."

"Yes," she agreed. "It's pretty dull work to cook for an empty house. But the young master's been generous enough to help support me until I can get back on track again, bless his heart."

"If I recall correctly, it was his arm that needed a blessing, not his heart," Megumi arrived, dropping her bags as well.

"Oh, so I see all of you could make it," Hana smiled in her startling resemblance to Dr. Gensai. "Well that's lovely. It'll be good to have the house full of life again. It's too bad I have leave for town, but that's the way it goes. You youngsters have fun now, and don't get into too much trouble!" she bustled off down the mountain just as Sanosuke and the girls appeared, bringing up the rear.

"So we've got the place all to ourselves, eh?" Sano smirked as Ayame and Suzume released him from their respective holds to say goodbye to their great aunt.

"Hmph," Megumi said haughtily. "Don't get any ideas."

"Wouldn't dream of it," the fighter drawled.

"Not that you have many ideas in your head anyway," Megumi muttered under her breath. "Well then, since we've arrived in such good time, I think I'll go see some of the sights. I suppose I'll be back in time to help Sir Ken with supper."

Kaoru visibly flinched when Megumi mentioned her 'Sir Ken' but thought of her real reasons for wanting to go on this trip with the doctor in the first place. "Wait, Megumi. I'll go with you."

"There's really no need to . . ." Megumi started as Kaoru came up behind her and began pushing her forward a little faster.

"It's good for girls to go out without the men around," Kaoru covered with a smile. "Besides, I remember the cherry trees are probably blooming right now . . . they must be so pretty . . ." her voice trailed off as the two women made their way over a hill and away from the house.

"And good riddance," Sanosuke and Yahiko said simultaneously with identical dismissive waves of the hand.

"Now, now," Kenshin said, picking up everyone's luggage and staggering to bring it inside, "they're not that bad, that they aren't."

"Yeah, not bad at all for a smart-mouthed fox," Sano answered sarcastically.

"Or an ugly raccoon," replied Yahiko.

Kenshin just shook his head. "Well, I'll be starting on dinner now. Yahiko, I think Miss Kaoru would like it if you practised a little before she got back."

"Yeah, yeah," Yahiko climbed up onto the porch and grabbed his shinai as Kenshin left. "Damn ugly hag. Bosses me around when she's not even here . . ."

"I hear ya," Sanosuke said, having already made himself comfortable leaning against a tree in the clearing before the house.

Yahiko looked around, noticing that no one else was in the vicinity. "Uh, hey Sano . . ."

"Yeah?"

"You know how I asked last night if we could talk a little?"

"What?" Sanosuke leaned his head up. "You wanna do it now?"

Yahiko nodded.

Sano scratched his head. "Well, I guess now would be as good time as any. What did you want?"

"Well, you know that day you had dinner at the dojo, and before that I ran into you and Megumi in the street?"

The fighter quirked a brow. "The day when I had all that shopping shit in my hands and you almost made me drop it?"

"Yeah. That one," Yahiko was losing a bit of his confidence. "Well, you know how you guys kept saying I was acting sort of weird?"

"Mmhmm," Sanosuke said.

"Well, I was acting that way 'cause Tsubame . . . Tsubame kinda . . ."

"What did she do?"

"Shekindofkissedme," Yahiko rushed out.

"That explains a bit," Sanosuke mused, smirking at the boy. "It's about time, anyway. So what's the problem with that?"

Yahiko managed to summon up enough self-assurance to glower at him. "That kiss wasn't the problem. It was afterward when I-"

"Uncle Sano! Uncle Yahiko! Where's Uncle Kenny?" Ayame and Suzume came rushing back. Yahiko groaned at their timing.

"He's off making us some food," Sanosuke answered.

"Aww," the two girls complained.

"Uncle Ken's no fun when he's busy," Ayame said.

"No fun, no fun!" Suzume chimed. "Play with us, Uncle Sano!"

Ayame tugged on Yahiko's sleeve. "Yeah, Uncle Yahiko too!"

"Play with us! Play with us! Come play!" they shouted together.

"Man, as cute as you two are, you sure know how to be annoying," Sanosuke muttered, rubbing his temple.

"Uh, we can't play with you guys because . . ." Yahiko stammered to find an excuse to get the girls to leave so he could finish his conversation, "because . . . I need to practise. And um . . . Sano needs to help me . . ."

"Huh?" Sanosuke was puzzled until Yahiko gave him an I'm-trying-to-get-rid-of-them-so-we-can-talk look. "Oh, right, right. I'll just go get the Missy's sword and help the kid out."

"I'm not a kid," Yahiko growled.

Sanosuke gave him a do-you-want-my-help-or-not look and Yahiko hushed up.

"So no play?" Suzume's lower lip wavered.

Yahiko bent down, resting his hands on his knees. "Sorry, but we're gonna be busy sparring."

"That's okay," Ayame perked up. "We'll just watch you fight. It'll be fun!"

Yahiko slapped his hand over his face in consternation.

* * *

The late afternoon sunlight fell through the canopy of cherry trees in dappled patterns, speckling the dresses of the two women who were walking beneath. The wind blew soft sakura petals through the air, the white tops of the branches swaying slightly. Kaoru felt her hair being pushed forward, as though trying to chase after the little flowers in the breeze. Tucking the stray locks back into place as she walked, she glanced over at Megumi, who had said nothing since they had left the house.

It was one of the few times where Kaoru could actually get a good look at the lady doctor. Not that she had never had time before, but she just never really looked at her. Of course, she was beautiful. But it wasn't a shocking, breathtaking beauty. It was more a quiet, classically refined sort of beauty, one that was more a statement of character than of aesthetics. The way she walked, the way she held herself up, the way she would just let her hair cascade down her back; it was all natural for her, and she was lovely doing it. Kaoru also looked a little jealously at her chest, clasping her hands over her own small breasts.

"What are you staring at?" Megumi finally spoke, indicating Kaoru's eyes on her upper body.

"Um, uh . . . nothing. Nothing at all," Kaoru blushed, looking immediately away.

Megumi glanced at her strangely, but went back to watching the leaves from the cherry trees falling like snow on the warm summer day. They lapsed into another uncomfortable silence. Well, that was, uncomfortable for Kaoru.

"So . . ." the younger girl started, a little unsure as to what she really wanted to talk about. "How are things at the clinic?"

Megumi rolled her eyes. "Terrible, since you've commissioned that moron to 'help out.'"

_Okay . . . maybe not the best way to start a meaningful conversation, but . . ._ Kaoru thought. "Well, at least he helped you with carrying your things when you went shopping that one day."

"Yes, that's apparently all he's good for: backbreaking labour." Megumi flicked her hair. "Work that doesn't take much more thought than a pack mule would have."

Kaoru was a little taken aback by the ferocity of her insults. _Wow, touchy subject_, she thought, then grinned inwardly. _She must really have it bad . . ._

"Well, I'm not so sure . . . Sanosuke can be good for other things, you know," Kaoru could have kicked herself for having to come to his defence, but decided it was a necessary evil if she ever wanted her plans to go through.

"Oh yes, let's not forget the free-loading, packing away food so efficiently, and gambling away all of his money."

Kaoru clenched her teeth. It did not look like Megumi was going to make this easy for her. "Don't you . . . don't you think you're a little hard on the guy?"

Megumi was immediately suspicious. "Since when have you gone soft on him?"

"I haven't," Kaoru said a little too quickly. "It's just that . . . well, Sanosuke's actually not such a bad guy and he can do some nice things sometimes and he's a really good friend and . . . and . . ."

". . . And you've run out of compliments for him," Megumi finished. "Honestly, Kaoru, I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but my opinion of that stupid rooster won't change."

"What exactly is your opinion of him, Megumi?" the little swordswoman pressed, hoping.

The older woman sniffed derisively. "You already know that. And besides, what does it matter? It's not like he'll ever change anyway."

Kaoru's hope ship sank. She cracked her knuckles in frustration, racking her brain for another approach. She found one, but it was not exactly one she was anxious to do. _Well_, she surmised with a grimace, _desperate times call for desperate measures_.

"I-if you ask me, though . . . I think . . . I think Sanosuke's kind of . . . kind of . . . cute." Kaoru stifled a gag.

Megumi turned to the younger girl in shock. "W-what?"

"Well, he . . ." Kaoru braced herself for the string of words would feel like bile upon her tongue—not for lack of feelings for Sano, but because she thought of him more as an older brother . . . and thinking anything remotely romantic about one's brother is enough to set the stomach reeling-"he's all tall, dark and h-handsome . . . you know, with those p-puppy-dog eyes, and that fun smile, and m-muscular build . . ."

"Kaoru," the doctor quirked a brow, "I do believe you've lost your mind. What about Sir Ken?" Suddenly fox ears sprouted above her bangs. "Does this mean you don't like him anymore? That he's fair game?"

"K-Kenshin . . . I . . . fair game . . . I . . . in love . . . he . . . you . . ." the girl stammered nonsensically at Megumi's questioning. She shook her head quickly to snap out of it. "I . . . I'm not in love with Kenshin or anything . . ." she denied. "I just-"

"That settles it then," Megumi smirked. "Since you don't like him, you should have no problem if he decides to become my lover . . ."

"_L-lover?_" the Kamiya girl screeched. "You can't . . . you can't be serious!"

"Oh can't I?"

This was not going according to Kaoru's original plan at all. Ideally, today Kaoru had wanted to prove herself right in the belief that Megumi did actually care for Sanosuke on a deeper level, but all it seemed to be doing was backfiring in her face. _Argh! This isn't happening! There's got to be some way to stop this! _Kaoru's inner-self was going into convulsions_. Think, Kamiya, think!_

"I suppose it's a good thing that you don't care for Sir Ken in _that_ way," Megumi continued. "After all, he would definitely prefer a _real_ woman like me over a sweaty little-"

"If you try anything with Kenshin I'll burn all of your kimonos and chop off all your hair!" Kaoru threatened in a booming voice. _Hit her where it hurts_, she thought smugly.

Megumi's eyes actually widened a little. "You wouldn't dare . . ." she brought a protective hand to her hair.

"Oh wouldn't I?"

There was a silent stare-down between the two, and one could almost see sparks flying between their gazes as the sakura petals drifted serenely down around them. Raccoon and Fox energies bristled and collided in the little neck of the Tsukayama gardens, neither of the two willing to step down.

"Why won't you just admit that you've really fallen in love with Sir Ken?"

"Why won't you just admit that you flirt with Kenshin to cover up your feelings for Sanosuke?"

The simultaneous outbursts echoed in the trees surrounding them. Followed by another pause, and some strange, mutual unspoken agreement between Kaoru and Megumi to never _ever_ mention anything remotely resembling their statements to _anyone_. Ever.

The two women headed back down the path in almost, almost companionable silence.

* * *

"Fight, fight! Uncle Sano, Uncle Yahiko, _fight fight fight!_" Ayame and Suzume cheered from the porch.

Yahiko narrowed his eyes and gripped his shinai tightly, forcing his previous annoyance at the two impossibly adorable little girls out of his system and focusing solely on the opponent before him. Though it was unexpected, and though he would never admit it, Yahiko really appreciated Sanosuke agreeing to spar. While Kenshin may have been his idol, Sano was definitely an impressive fighter in his own right, and it would be interesting to see how the junior samurai would fare against him. However, Yahiko had never seen Sanosuke actually use a regular-sized sword, let alone a simple wooden one.

The first student of the Kamiya Kasshin Style dug deeper into his preparatory stance, scrutinizing and judging the best method to attack Sano. _Should I strike first? Sanosuke doesn't really have any type of defence strategy, but he _has _witnessed my fighting style before, so he's at an advantage. Maybe it'd be better if I let him have the first move . . . I know he's tough, but if I can gauge his technique in the first few moves, I might not get knocked down and I can come up with some sort of counter . . ._

"Hey, Rooster!" Yahiko taunted. "Are we gonna fight or just stare at each other all day?" Yahiko prepared himself. _That should get him . . ._

The boy was mildly surprised when he saw the normally volatile fighter simply take a deep breath and close his eyes, adjusting his grip on the other sword. Sanosuke slid his right hand closer to the hilt of the shinai, sliding his left down the side of where the blade would have been, palm open. He stood there, as though he were lost in faraway memories.

Kenshin, who had stepped outside to inform the others that supper would soon be ready, stopped in his tracks at the sight of Yahiko and Sano in an obviously impending skirmish. The wanderer's indigo eyes examined the surprisingly unfamiliar fighting stance Sanosuke was using.

"C'mon, moron!" Yahiko was beginning to get impatient at Sano's uncharacteristic calm. "What, are you scared to fight me now?"

Sanosuke's eyes snapped open. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a kid," he smirked, apparently back to his normal self.

"I'm not a kid!" the kid stamped his foot angrily.

Sano simply rolled his eyes, then suddenly pressed onto the attack.

_Shit!_ was Yahiko's first coherent thought as he found himself struggling to block the barrage of strikes and blows_. How the hell did Sanosuke get this fast? I thought Kenshin was the only one known for speed . . ._ he deflected a particularly quick attack to his head. Watching as the sword in Sano's hand arced upward with extreme ease before ducking just out of its path, the thought came to him.

_Shit!_ his mind repeated. _Of course he's faster than normal fighters; he's using a sword that's like a toothpick compared to his zanbatou! His muscles have adjusted to using that huge thing and now he can swing lighter swords like they're nothing_. Sanosuke made another lunge at the boy. _Shit! _Yahiko dodged. _Shit! Shit! Shit!_

Yahiko frantically tried to block each strike, finding it harder and harder to come up with the necessary speed to counter or the strength to push Sano's sword away. Sweat began to trickle through his spiky bangs and down his face as he was forced to rely simply on his defence to remain in the fight.

"What's the matter, kid?" Sanosuke emphasized the last word mockingly. "You getting tired?"

The boy's brows fell into a dark scowl. "No way! And I'm. Not. A. Kid!" he screamed as he flew toward the larger fighter.

Kenshin's face gave a little twitch_. Bad move_, he thought. _Sanosuke doesn't use any kind of defensive manoeuvres in his fighting style, so he's constantly at an offensive. By attacking now, Yahiko's leaving himself open to any number of Sano's attacks . . ._

"Oof!" Yahiko wheezed out as Sanosuke's sword hit him full on in the stomach before the boy could reach halfway between the two. He slid back from the sword slowly, clutching his gut and collapsing to the grass beneath him. "Dammit," he groaned.

"Uncle Sano wins! Yay! Good fight!" Ayame and Suzume shouted from Kenshin's feet.

Sano tousled the boy's hair affectionately. "It's all right, Yahiko," he smiled. "Everyone loses once in a while."

Yahiko pouted. "Kenshin doesn't," his face was sullen at his inability to be like his hero.

"No, but I lost to Kenshin," Sanosuke said. "And I'm a damn good fighter, if I do say so myself."

"But you're not as good as Kenshin."

"I was good enough to beat you," Sanosuke pointed out.

"That was incredible!" Kaoru squealed as she rushed up to her pupil.

"W-what?" he looked at her, confused.

"Your fight!" she said. "I've never seen your defence that quick! Or your focus so locked on . . ." her eyes suddenly became angry. "_Why don't you ever do that when I'm teaching you?_"

"Maybe because I don't have to look at an ugly raccoon when I fight with Sanosuke!"

"You can't talk to your instructor that way!"

"Oh grow up, both of you," Megumi said as she approached them in front of the house.

"Did all of you see the whole thing?" Sano asked, shifting his glances between the three others.

Kaoru and Megumi nodded while Kenshin just mentioned, "I missed the initiation, but I saw most of it, that I did."

Sanosuke got a smug look on his face. "Impressed?" his eyes slid over to Megumi.

She 'hmphed' and sauntered over to Kenshin. "So, Sir Ken," she completely ignored Sano, "do you require my assistance in the kitchen?"

Kenshin blushed, remembering the last time she had tried to 'help out' with the cooking. "Uh, no, the food's just about ready . . . I don't think I'll need anyone to help, that I don't."

Megumi pouted while Kaoru fumed. Apparently they were back to square one, even after their conversation and their 'agreement' on their walk.

"I'm hungry!" Ayame stated as though it were the most important statement known to man.

"Me too! Hungry!" Suzume followed with her normal call-back.

Kaoru smiled at the two little girls. "Well let's go in and eat then, since Kenshin says supper's just about ready." The group collectively agreed and started to file inside, ladies first, of course.

"Sanosuke."

"Yeah Yahiko?" Sanosuke turned around to look at the junior samurai. Kenshin paused behind them.

"Where did you learn how to fight like that? Did you learn that style of swordsmanship in the Sekihoutai?" the boy looked eager for the answer. "I've never seen that style before. And I've never seen you use a sword other than your zanbatou. What kind of sword did you learn on? Did you use a wooden one like me?" Yahiko's eyes were bright.

Sano's face seemed to darken a little as he shoved his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath, much like the one he had taken just before he started the fight. Opening his eyes, he pointedly avoided Kenshin's gaze.

"I learned on a katana in the Sekihoutai," he said before stepping away from the door.

Yahiko blinked. "Where are you going?"

"Suddenly I'm not so hungry anymore."

The shocked and confused expression never left Yahiko's face. "Well that's weird," he shook his head. "Never heard of Sanosuke not being hungry before . . ."

The aku on Sano's back flapped in the breeze as he started walking away, especially aware of Kenshin's gaze boring into his head. He never turned around to face it.


	9. Discussing 'Tactics'

CHAPTER NINE – DISCUSSING 'TACTICS': Conversations with Yahiko

Dinner was a quiet affair, with only the sounds of clattering dishes and Kaoru's desperate attempt at conversation, to which only Ayame and Suzume would respond. Megumi ate primly while only giving short, vague answers to any small-talk questions Kaoru might ask, Yahiko just stared blankly into space, and Kenshin . . . Kenshin brooded so palpably that even Kaoru knew not to ask him anything.

With supper finished and the dishes done, the collective group went to bed, Ayame and Suzume with Kaoru in one room, Megumi one adjoining, Yahiko and Kenshin in another. Though, neither of the boys could sleep easily that night. Yahiko was downright afraid to descend into slumber, where his subconscious would most definitely attempt to embarrass him further and force him to do yet another batch of laundry. Kenshin simply lay with his eyes closed, his mind far away. Sanosuke was suspiciously absent throughout the night.

* * *

_Damn, I'm hungry._

Sanosuke crossed his arms and leaned against the side of Hana Gensai's house, the moon peering out from between thin clouds. In the warm night the wind blew a slightly chilling gust that rippled through the trees and brushed against his hair and jacket. He shivered, but was not really cold.

He sighed heavily. _Why the hell did I just walk away? I mean, it's not like Kenshin hates me or anything because I . . . I killed people before. It's not like they'd_all_think of me differently now. I just . . . just . . . dammit, this is bullshit. I'm acting like the moron they all think I am, especially that . . . aw, hell. My head hurts._ Sano brought a hand to his head, latching onto a fistful of sepia hair.

Tilting his head back and gazing at the obscured moon, Sanosuke took another deep breath. _I shouldn't get this worked up about it. It's not like I'm the worst offender here anyway . . . Kenshin's pretty much famous because he assassinated so many . . . he's definitely got it worse than I do. He killed people who couldn't even fight him back . . . not a soldier like I was. But . . ._ Sano's face contorted slightly, _but . . . does it really matter if they can defend themselves or not? I mean, whether or not they have a sword in their hands, don't they all just seem the same when . . . when they bleed . . ._

* * *

"Surprise attack! Everyone up!"

Shouts and calls echo in the clearing of the woods as soldiers scramble to their weapons. Red-jacketed soldiers grasp katana and muskets as life-lines, prepared to defend their camp and their cause. Tokugawa soldiers descend into the enemy lines, and swords and bullets fly.

Sanosuke holds his sword tightly, only barely registering the sound of Katsu's musket firing a little ways behind him. He guards Captain Sagara's back, making sure his beloved leader is safe to preserve his ideals on his own during the battle. A large enemy soldier comes upon him, raising his sword above his head. Sano holds his katana as Captain Sagara taught him, sliding his palm down the flat of the blade and finding a calm centre within him. The Tokugawa's sword begins to fall fast, but Sanosuke's eyes snap open into the real world and his own sword rushes upward. With his uncanny strength for a boy the age of nine, he deflects the other's blade with the sharp sound of metal clashing against metal. The larger soldier now wide open, Sanosuke whips his sword back and slashes across the exposed abdomen.

He hears the hiss of warm insides coming in contact with the cold air, sees the shocked look upon the face of the Tokugawa soldier, smells the blood dripping down his blade and falling to the grassy ground. Everything seems red as the viscera trickles out through the uniform tinted dark in the night. Sounds around him continue to process in his ears as muffled and distant, yet undeniably identifiable: Katsu's musket going off in regular staccato patterns, Captain Sagara's katana warding off the attacks of another soldier, the shouts of other members of the Sekihoutai during the skirmish. The enemy before him begins to stagger forward, but Sanosuke finishes his work with a sharp backhanded slit of the throat, the manoeuvre unbidden, but swift by his small hands. With a lurch and a strangled cry the large soldier tumbles down, draped dead upon him, innards falling at Sano's feet, blood splashing upon the boy's face and chest. Everything freezes for a moment.

He barely even notices that everyone else had already finished fighting by now.

Sano backs away, letting the corpse fall in a pool of dark fluid upon the ground. His hands shake as he still grips his katana, his breath still fast and coming out in steamy puffs in the crisp night. It is only now that he realizes that his normally white uniform is stained in scarlet, that his hands feel slippery and sticky against his sword from the fluid there, that his face is wet from both tears and blood running down his cheeks.

"C-Captain!" his voice chokes out as he collapses to his knees, and he hears Katsu and Captain Sagara rushing to his side as quickly as they can.

But they are too late to comfort him.

* * *

Sanosuke's hands shook as he stared at them in the moonlit area behind Doctor Gensai's sister's house. He closed his eyes and willed his breath a pulse to slow, dispersing the memories at the same time. _That's all done now . . . I don't have to worry about it. I shouldn't worry about it . . . I killed for the cause. I killed for the group. I killed for my Captain. It's justified. It's all justified . . ._

_How can you justify killing?_

_I was only a child . . . only a soldier . . ._

_You took life. There is no excuse for killing._

_They would've killed me if I hadn't! They would've killed Katsu and the Captain too! I had to!_

_There is still blood on your hands. Their lives fell at your feet . . ._

He shook his head violently. _No, just don't think about it. You're forgiven, Sano. I mean, if Kenshin can be forgiven, you can too, right? Captain, you forgive me, don't you?_Sanosuke looked up at the sky again, watching the stars flicker down upon him and almost . . . smile?

_Don't you, Captain?_

Suddenly the wind stopped, all going quiet within the clearing around the small house. Even the stars seemed to cease their twinkling and the moon hid once again behind a veil of clouds. Sanosuke swallowed nervously.

A small shooting star lit the sky for a brief moment. Sanosuke could almost smell the mix of grass and sweat and gunpowder he had associated with the Sekihoutai as the wind started up again, this time warm. The star flew on, disappearing into the night as the wind embraced him.

Sano smiled. "Thanks, Captain."

"Thanks for what, Sanosuke?"

The lanky fighter started and turned his head to see a short, spiky-haired figure stepping toward him. Yahiko Myojin stepped out of the shadow of the porch and shuffled over to Sano's hiding-place.

"Uh, nothing," Sanosuke covered fumblingly. "Nothing important anyway."

"Oh," Yahiko's normally inquisitive nature was subdued tonight. "Um, hey, Sano . . ."

"Let me guess," the taller man gave him an arched brow beneath his headband. "You want to talk to me about something."

"Uh, yeah." The boy began to blush. "Well, like I was telling you earlier, Tsubame kind of . . . kind of . . ."

"She kissed you," Sanosuke filled in the blank Yahiko's stuttering was leaving. "I got that part already. You said that wasn't it, though."

"It wasn't and it is," the junior samurai put his hand behind his head, rubbing his wild hair in thought. "Aw, dammit, this is so confusing. I mean, I don't even know why I wanted to ask in the first place 'cause it's not like anyone else has these sorts of problems or if they do they don't talk about it especially not to me and I just-"

"Whoa, slow down," Sanosuke put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Kid, if you want to talk, talk. Just don't ramble."

"But you probably won't even be able to help me and-"

"Try me," the ex-gangster crossed his arms and gave Yahiko a look. "Believe me, I've been around. I think I can help you out at least a little."

Yahiko took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, like I said, it all started when Tsubame k-kissed me."

Sanosuke nodded, indicating that he was paying close attention. "Yeah, and?"

"T-that night . . . when I went to bed, I . . . I was kind of . . . because she . . . Sano, is it normal for you to . . . kind of, I don't know, leak?"

"What?" Sanosuke blinked.

"It's just that, when I go to sleep, I-I start to think about her and I dream and she . . . she," Yahiko's face was visibly red, even in the faint light of the stars.

Realization dawned on Sanosuke's face. "And she's not so shy anymore in your dreams, right?"

Yahiko swallowed. "Yeah. Sanosuke, what do I do?"

"Do?" Sanosuke looked confused again. "What do you mean, what do you do? It just happens. It's part of becoming a man," the fighter puffed himself up with pride for the young boy.

"So you get all sticky too?"

Sano sweatdropped. "Uh, well, when I was your age, yeah. You just have to learn to control it, I suppose."

"Control it?" Yahiko looked up at the larger fighter with expectant eyes. "How?"

Sanosuke put his hand behind his head, rubbing his shaggy hair in thought. "You've got to release it before you go to bed, that way you won't . . . ah . . ."

"Be all up and hard?" the boy supplemented.

"Uh, right."

"What do you mean, 'release'?" Yahiko questioned.

"You know, release it. Jack off."

"You mean I . . ." the first student of the Kamiya Kasshin style let the words taper suggestively.

"Right," Sanosuke said, seeing understanding in the boy's eyes.

"That's gross."

"Yeah well, there's nothing you can do, unless you want to keep going off in your bed."

"Okay, okay, I get it. But how," black brows furrowed over cinnamon eyes, "how do I do it?"

Sano nearly face-vaulted. "Damn, kid! Do I have to explain everything to you?"

Yahiko looked angry and a little hurt. "It's not my fault! It just . . . it just happens, and I don't know what to do! No one was ever there to really teach me this kind of stuff . . . sure, I was with the gangsters for a bit, but they never talked about this really, they were too old! And my parents weren't there . . . and Kaoru wouldn't know anything, and I don't want to ask Kenshin . . . and . . . and I-"

"All right, all right," Sanosuke felt guilty. "I'll teach you. Fuck, what did I do to deserve this?"

"Hey, come on," Yahiko frowned at him. "Consider it one productive thing you do with your life."

"'Productive' is an interesting word choice for this subject, Yahiko."

"Dammit, Sanosuke! Stop thinking dirty and help me jack off!"

"That's another interesting-"

"Just shut up and teach me . . ." Yahiko whined.

"Fine," Sanosuke gave in and decided to become serious. "All right, it's really very simple. Just think of what you think of before you go to bed . . . you know, those thoughts that made you do it in the first place . . ."

"T-the ones with Tsubame . . .?" the blush on his tanned cheeks returned with a vengeance.

Sanosuke nodded. "Yeah. If you hold it when you're thinking about her and you act like she's the one-"

"I h-hold it while thinking . . . thinking that?"

"Yes," Sano was getting a little exasperated at his naïveté. For all the times he insisted that he was not a little kid and could even act like it (on a good day), Yahiko really could be very childish; he was just childish with adult language interspersed between his sentences. "Just think about her when you do it. Actually it could be any girl, really, but since Tsubame seems to have such a hold on you, she'd probably be easiest."

"W-what kind of things should I think about w-with her?"

"Uh, well, what you thought about in your dreams," Sanosuke answered lamely. "They did set you off in the first place, so that's probably where you should start."

"But . . . but I don't know if I'm doing this right," the look in Yahiko's eyes was something akin to a trapped rodent. "W-what do you think about?"

This time, Sanosuke _did _face-vault. "Yahiko, that's private stuff!"

"Well, you're gonna know mine, so it's only fair! Plus, I need help!"

The tall fighter slapped his hand over his eyes and began rubbing his temples. "Okay, fine. Um . . ." the blush magically transferred from Yahiko's face to Sano's. "Well, start with her in front of you."

"Okay," Yahiko closed his eyes, imagining.

"And she comes closer to you, kissing you . . . um, again, and she backs away a little, but she's still close enough for you to see that gleam in her eyes. Yeah. And her hand trails from your face down to your shirt . . . she starts to take it off."

"Got that," the boy was now squeezing his eyes shut.

"You feel a little nervous and your heart starts to pound as your shirt falls to the ground. She leans her head on your chest, and you can feel her own pulse against yours. Your hands start to shake as she pulls her hands down lower on you."

"Uh huh," Yahiko said.

"As her hands go down, she lifts her head up, and you want to taste her lips again . . . you put your hand behind her head, stroking her long dark hair as you kiss her back and-"

"Uh, Sano?"

"What?" he asked, a little irritated at the interruption. He really just wanted to get this over with.

"Tsubame has short, brown hair."

"Oh. Right. Stroking her short brown hair then."

"Yeah."

"Okay. So you kiss her back, and you taste her as her hands continue, her fingertips brushing against . . ."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah," Sanosuke heard Yahiko beside him.

He jumped back a little. "Whoa, kid! You're not gonna do that right here in front of me, are you?"

Yahiko's eyes opened. "W-well I've got to, since you just kind of started over here and I needed help . . ."

The look of pure 'grossed-outness' on Sano's face would have been enough to make Yahiko laugh, had it been any other time but now. "Kid, go somewhere else to do that! I told you, it's private stuff. Keep it that way!"

"But, I need you to-"

"I think you've got enough to go off of," Sano started pushing him away. "Go somewhere and finish. Just make sure you clean up after yourself."

"Um, okay," Yahiko started moving, covering the front of his pants, a little embarrassed now.

"Shit," Sanosuke scratched his head with a peeved expression after the boy had departed. "How come I get stuck doing all the dirty work in this little group?" He started walking off to his own bed, a long string of curses tailing him.

Through the wall where Sano had just left, a wide-eyed Kaoru lay in a room where the sleeping Ayame and Suzume did not hear anything that had transpired outside.

Unfortunately for Kaoru, the wall was thin and she was the closest to it. Her eye twitched a little as she lay in her futon, the only coherent thought in her head being:

"Eew . . ."


	10. Reading and Running

CHAPTER TEN – READING AND RUNNING: A Day with Sanosuke

"I still can't believe you brought all that stuff with you."

"Of course I brought it. Did you honestly expect me to let you off the hook so easily?" Megumi flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Now again: what's this one?" She picked up her brush and wrote the next character on a small piece of paper.

Sanosuke scratched his head as he leaned forward in front of her. "Uh, let's see here . . . a broken gate with a curved bottom, two funny fishhook marks up top, a box . . . no wait, there's another line up top crossing box . . ."

"Hurry up, Rooster. It isn't that hard."

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" he glared at her. "So, curved bottom, crossed top, sharp hooks . . ." he could not help but note the similarities in that sentence to the woman sitting across from him. Her kimono tightened around her curved base as she sat, her arms folded over her chest in an impatient manner, and her eyes were glaring daggers. "Is it 'zun,' 'valuable?'?"

She sniffed haughtily. "Well, I suppose you're not as stupid as you look. It also means precious."

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes.

"Well, let's try them together now," she lifted the brush to start again before Sano interrupted.

"Come on, Fox," he plucked the writing implement from her hand. "We've been at this all morning, and I keep getting most of them right. Don't you think it's time for a break?"

She gave him a withering stare. "You keep getting _most _of them. We're not stopping today until you can get ten in a row without messing up."

"But-"

"No buts," she grabbed the brush back. "Now, what's this character?"

"Aww, dammit," he folded his legs closer to him and starting rolling back and forth in a childish manner. "I knew I should've looked at those charts a little longer . . ."

"Wrong answer," Megumi stated matter-of-factly. "Try again."

"Um, the one with squiggles on the flat top . . . that one's . . . geez, what a surprise. 'Yan,' right? 'Strict?'"

"Yes. Now this one."

"Oh, good morning to you two," a voice came from the opening shoji beside the couple. Kenshin poked his red head out, a cheerful smile on his face. Apparently, all his brooding the day before was nothing a pensive night of sulking could not fix. "What are you doing out here?"

"Going through the depths of hell."

"Teaching this blockhead how to read."

Kenshin's smile never wavered. "Well, that's nice, that it is. Breakfast may be a bit slow coming this morning, since no one remembered to do the dishes last night."

"I'm very sorry, Sir Ken," Megumi apologized. "I suppose I was a little preoccupied after supper. I'll remember to help out more today." She gave a pointed look to Sanosuke, prompting him to follow suit.

He blinked. "What?"

"Well, aren't you going to apologize too?"

"Why should I?" Sanosuke asked. "I didn't even eat dinner last night. You can't expect me to clean up some mess I didn't make."

Megumi rolled her eyes. "It's called common courtesy, Rooster."

Sanosuke tilted his head to the side. "Since when does a lady like you do anything common?"

The lady doctor took a deep, calming breath, determined not to lose control today and get into another stream of arguments. "Whatever. Thank you for informing us, Sir Ken," she turned to show her gratitude to the wanderer, but he had already bustled off to fix up the meal. Picking up where she had left off, Megumi swivelled her head back to the lanky fighter before her. "All right then. No more interruptions. Name this charac-"

"Megumi?"

The vixen-turned-teacher refused to acknowledge the sound of Kaoru's voice coming from inside her room and pointed rather harshly to the fresh symbol on the paper. "I said no more interruptions. Rooster, what's this one?"

The door opened behind her and a brightly kimono-ed form stepped out. "Megumi? Have you seen . . . oh . . ."

"Name this character."

"Oh, hey, Missy," Sano made it a point to ignore Megumi and brush off his reading lesson by taking every distraction he could.

Kaoru seemed to jump out of her obi when she heard Sanosuke's voice. The expression on her face held something that was a mix of disgust, shame, and overall embarrassment accompanied by a bright red blush.

"If you're looking for Kenshin, he's up fixing us food," Sanosuke stated helpfully, noticing her blush and thinking it was for the small red-headed swordsman. "That's what you wanted to know, right?"

Her eyes still wide and face still tinged pink, Kaoru made her way woodenly to the other door, murmuring something that could have been a "thank you, Sanosuke," or maybe a "boys are dirty." It was hard to determine. The shoji closed behind her.

"Huh. I wonder what's gotten into her . . ."

"It really doesn't concern us," Megumi struggled to get his attention on the lesson again. "Now, could you please name thi-?"

"Hey Sanosuke, Megumi!" Yahiko called out as he came out of the house to the porch. "Kenshin says to tell you guys that breakfast is just about ready!"

"All right!" Sano punched his fist in excitement. "Wow, that was quick! Escape from the lesson and food!"

Megumi narrowed her eyes. "Yes, celebrate while you can, Rooster-head. You won't escape as easily as you may think."

Sanosuke paused halfway to the door. He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You know, Fox, you can sound really evil when you put your mind to it."

She stood up and brushed past him. "This coming from the man who wears the symbol for evil on his back every day," her hand stopped in the middle of opening the door. "Speaking of which, when was the last time you washed those clothes of yours? Or even taken a bath for that matter?"

"When was the last time it rained?"

* * *

"Yahiko, you shouldn't eat so fast, that you shouldn't," Kenshin began methodically patting the gagging boy on the back.

The junior samurai was finally able to breathe after a few more slaps. "But I have to if I want any food! Sanosuke keeps eating it all!"

"First come, first served," Sanosuke replied around a full mouth, which received a chastising glower from Megumi. He swallowed quickly and grinned at her.

Kenshin sweatdropped. "Oh boy. Sano and Yahiko sure are healthy eaters!"

"More like vulgar," Megumi nibbled on her tofu primly. "Honestly, I've never witnessed anything more embarrassing than their eating habits. Don't you agree, Kaoru?"

Kaoru, who had not said anything throughout the meal, felt her face redden. "Um, no . . ."

The doctor looked at her curiously. "Do you have a fever, Kaoru? You look a little flushed. Is something wrong?" Megumi's infamous fox-ears sprang up and she suddenly looked very sly. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Oh, uh," Kaoru's eyes darted around the table, lingering a little on Sanosuke and Yahiko. "No! No, nothing at all. Nope. Ehehehe . . ." she put her hand behind her head and laughed sheepishly.

"Auntie Kaoru looks all pinkie," Ayame pointed the swordswoman's blush out after she finished off another dumpling.

"Pinkie, pinkie!" Suzume laughed as rice dribbled down her face. "Like her pretty, pretty kimono!"

Kaoru simply wore the greatest look of mortification she could while still attempting to look as though nothing was wrong.

Yahiko quirked his brow at her behaviour. "Hey, Ugly," he polished off the last of his breakfast. "You sure you're all right? You look like a bigger raccoon than normal . . ."

"I'm f-fine," she waved her hand to dismiss it, albeit unconvincingly. She started to change the subject. "Oh look! Ayame, Suzume, and I have all finished our breakfast. I'll just go and wash these dishes . . ."

The older little girl looked confused. "But Auntie Kaoru, I'm not done ye-"

But she had already whisked the bowls and trays away.

"Wah! I'm still hungry!" Suzume cried. Ayame just looked dejected.

"Here you are," Kenshin handed them the rest of his rice. "You can have mine."

The girls barely had time to thank him before they started on their next course.

"So," Kenshin smiled to the group left around the table, though the two little ones were otherwise occupied, "what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Well," Yahiko began, "I think I'm gonna train a little with Kaoru if she stops acting all weirded out."

Kenshin nodded. "That's nice, that it is. She would probably like it if you did. How about you, Sano?"

"I was thinking I could go out and-"

"He's going to finish his reading lesson," Megumi cut off the former gangster.

"Hey, come on!" Sanosuke glared. "Haven't I done enough? I got through almost the entire list of characters!"

"Individually. You still have to learn the combinations."

"Why you little-"

"Now, now," Kenshin tried to placate the two. "I'm sure Sano can finish his lesson and still have time to do something else . . . that way both of you are happy."

Sanosuke huffed. "Not with this slave driver of a teacher."

"Oh please," Megumi rolled her eyes. "I have to be a little hard on you if I want to get anywhere; you have the attention span of a gnat."

"But Miss Megumi," Kenshin said, "don't you have any other plans besides instructing Sano? Surely you don't intend to spend the entire day with him."

"Of course not," the doctor quickly beat down that particular assumption. "I plan to go out later and gather some medicinal herbs."

"Pretty! Pick the pretty flowers!" Suzume cheered the notion upon finishing her meal.

Ayame set down her chopsticks gracefully in an attempt to appear more like her adult companions (two of them at least). "Auntie Megumi, can we go too? Can we?"

She placed a long, delicate finger on her chin. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm . . ."

"Perhaps you can take Sano with you," Kenshin said helpfully. "It wouldn't be right to make you ladies carry all the pickings back without help, that it wouldn't."

"Kenshin, what the hell are you thinking?" Sanosuke decided to step in. "I'm not gonna go out of my way to help her. Besides, I'm not just some dumb beast you can get to do all the heavy lifting all the time."

"Yes you are," Megumi pointed out.

Sanosuke growled.

"Anyway," Kenshin cut them off before another bout could begin, "I'll just clean up the rest of this," he started to collect the remaining dishes. Stacking them in a teetering pile within his arms, he threw one last wanderer's smile behind him.

"Man," Yahiko crossed his arms sulkily. "Now that Kenshin's gone to wash the dishes, it'll take forever to get my training lesson started."

"How is that?" Megumi wondered.

The boy looked at her askance. "Since Ugly's in there too, she's not gonna let him out until she embarrasses herself again."

The doctor had to laugh at the truth in the statement. Whenever the two of them had time alone, it always appeared Kaoru thought it the perfect opportunity to attempt to state her feelings to the wanderer-and simultaneously blow it. "Well, I suppose you're right, but that doesn't mean you can't practise on your own. Besides, don't you prefer it without Kaoru yelling at you?"

Yahiko perked up. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. She'll be so shocked when she sees me it'll knock her flat on her ass. Great idea, Megumi."

She smirked. "Just make sure you tell us to come see it when she hits the ground."

Sanosuke rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't be so hard on the little Missy. She could whoop either of your asses if she wanted to."

"Yeah, Auntie Kaoru's real strong!" Ayame smiled.

"Bam, bam! Auntie Kaoru goes bonky-bonky!" Suzume pumped her fist vigorously, mimicking the action of bashing a shinai upon someone's head.

Megumi looked down her nose in Sanosuke's direction. "Oh, I don't think she would do that; she'd just be proving which of us is the better woman for Sir Ken. How could he want a woman who tries to win her battles with such violence?"

"How could he want a woman who tries to win her battles by being sneaky and keeping secrets all the time?"

Dark brown eyes glared back at the former gangster.

"Well, I'll leave you two lo-" Yahiko stopped himself short of saying the word "lovebirds" in reference to the present company, unpleasant memories of getting smashed in the face at a certain party at the dojo not too long ago coming to mind, "-guys alone. I've got to go start up on my training."

"Bye Uncle Yahiko!" Ayame and Suzume waved to him enthusiastically as he went out the door to practise behind the house in the yard.

"Well, now," Megumi stated brusquely, "since we've got a table between us already, let's continue with your lesson." She whipped out the charts and papers and brushes and inkwells.

"You brought all of those things with you here? Where did you get those?" He looked at her incredulously, while still trying to ponder out, "Where were you keeping them?"

The vixen completely disregarded the question and pressed on. "Now on combinations. Write me the symbol for 'wei' here. We're going to try the compound for 'authority.'"

"Now wait a minute," Sano argued. "Last time we were just on me telling you what the symbols are. What's with making me write them myself?"

"You're going to have to learn how anyway, and besides," she flipped her hair back, "you should have had them all memorized by now."

"Like hell I should!" the fighter slapped his hand on the table. "And anyway, I already told you. I'll learn how to read, but writing isn't on my list of priorities."

"And I've already told you," her brows furrowed in frustration, "that it's basically the same thing and you can't really learn one without the other. What's more, you never know when you'll have to write to someone someday."

"That'll be the day," Sano leaned back and folded his arms petulantly. "When would I ever have to do that?"

"How should I know?" Megumi looked cross. "Maybe if you leave town, or if you want to write a letter to someone far away, or if you," her frown lifted into a vicious grin, "if you want someone to come and bail you out of prison . . ."

"Tch. Like you ever would," Sanosuke waved that statement aside with his hand. "And like I'd ever actually let them catch me. Besides. They could just deal with my hiragana anyway."

"Auntie Megumi, Uncle Sano," Ayame pouted, "you two are boring. Can we go pick flowers now?"

"Yeah, let's go pick them!" Suzume tugged on the long sleeve of the lady doctor impatiently.

The Takani woman batted the child's hand away from her gently. "In a little bit. The sooner Sanosuke finishes his lesson, the sooner we can go and-Rooster?"

"C'mon, girls," Sano called from halfway out the door. Ayame and Suzume readily came running out past him, skipping and prancing in the clearing outside the house happily. The lanky man stayed in the doorway, pushing it open a little further and smiling cheekily to the still stationary doctor, who was looking mildly surprised and exasperated. "Well, aren't you coming? It'll be kind of hard to know which plant's we're supposed to get without you there."

She rolled her eyes. "It appears I've been outvoted, doesn't it?"

"Yup."

Megumi sighed as she rose smoothly, gliding past him with a flick of her hair as she exited.

"Let's go, let's go!" Suzume ran up to the lady doctor, tugging on her smock as she coerced her to leave. Sanosuke laughed and placed a hand on her pigtailed head to get her off, but was halted when he felt another impatient little girl latch onto him with the same command.

"All right, all right," Megumi managed to calm them down. "If you let go of us, we can leave now."

The two adults were instantly released.

"Where are we going to pick the flowers, Auntie Megumi?" Suzume tried her hardest to look patient.

"The same place we did when we were last here," she brushed off a wrinkle all the tugging had caused on her apron. "Up the road a little bit and past the river . . ."

Ayame's eyes lit up in a tell-tale sign that she was about to try and be helpful. "Oh, I remember! I know where it is! I have a real good memory, Auntie Megumi! Let's go!" She started running down the path, her little sister following close behind.

Startled, Megumi called out, "W-wait! You shouldn't be running off alone! You might get lost!" She reached out to them helplessly, but the two girls were already around the bend.

"What are you waiting for?" Sanosuke asked, already starting to take off after them. "Why aren't you running to get them too?"

She glowered at him. "Are you insane? I can't run!"

"Sure you can. Anyone can run."

"I'd like to see you try to run in a kimono and wooden sandals."

He looked at her incredulously. "When was the last time you even tried to?"

"This is ridiculous. You're wasting time. If you're so set on running, why don't you go and catch up to Ayame and Suzume?"

"They probably stopped when they found out that we weren't following them. I'm sure they're fine." As if to prove the fighter right, Megumi's ears perked at the sound of little high-pitched voices calling back for them to hurry, accompanied by the sight of two brightly coloured figures waving impatiently at the bend in the road. "You never answered my question," Sanosuke pressed, looking at her askance.

"What?"

"When was the last time you ran?"

Megumi blinked. "The last time . . ."

"Auntie Megumi, Uncle Sano, hurry up! Hurry up!" Ayame and Suzume called.

"Don't tell me you're tongue-tied over such a simple question," Sano quirked a brow at her.

"I'm not," she snapped defensively. "I . . . I suppose it was when I first met . . . Sir Ken and . . . and you in that gambling hall, when I was trying to escape from those men . . ."

"No, no," Sanosuke brushed her answer aside with a wave of his hand. "I don't mean like that. Not running away from something . . . running . . . you know, to something. Running 'cause you want to get somewhere or get something."

Megumi huffed at him. "What on earth does that have to do with anything?"

"Come on, Uncle Sano! Hurry up, Auntie Megumi!"

"Whatever, Fox," he called behind him as he started stepping forward. "If you wanna just sit around here, I'm sure me and the girls'll be just fine getting that herb stuff on our own." He stopped and turned his head slightly to give her a taunting look. "Besides, you'd never be able to keep up anyway."

The doctor tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "Like I care."

She had only just begun a defiantly slow walk when Sanosuke broke out into sprint, his long legs leaping several feet with just a single step. She crossed her arms as the 'aku' adorning his back fluttered behind him. Megumi could ignore the bit of dust he stirred up into her hair; she could ignore him sweeping both of the little girls up into his arms as he ran by; she could even ignore how he had left her behind without looking back; however, she could not ignore the fact that he had chosen the wrong path and was quickly racing in the wrong direction.

"Idiot."

* * *

_Man, this is boring._

Yahiko took one last swing with his shinai and then slung it over his shoulder. Crossing his arms and plopping to the ground, his face puckered into a frown. _I know I'm supposed to be practising on my own right now, but it's just so damn boring! It's really hard to improve on your own. Hell, I don't even have those little wooden boards I have back in Tokyo. Plus, after a fight like that with Sanosuke, I want another real challenge. Dammit, I'd even like it if Ugly herself was here yelling at me!_

"Oh, Kenshin, I didn't see you there!"

"Would you like some help with the dishes, Miss Kaoru?"

_Hmm?_ Yahiko turned his head back toward the house from where he was sitting out back. The slatted windows of the kitchen danced with shifting shadows as the sun poured in.

"Um . . . that-that would be . . . nice."

A devilish smile spread across the boy's face. Standing himself up, he crept as carefully and stealthily as he could, keeping his breathing slow and soft as his steps were light and measured. Arriving close up to the kitchen window, he crouched low beneath it, just barely coming up high enough so he could see inside.

_Kaoru's not gonna be out for a while . . . I can scare her sandals off with my practising later. For now I can just watch her make a complete ass of herself . . ._

* * *

Megumi was getting rather irritated with the whole situation. Normally she would not have minded had Sanosuke simply gotten himself lost in the woods. But to take Ayame and Suzume with him . . . that was just careless. However, she supposed, it was to be expected. It was, after all, Sanosuke. She parted another piece of brush from her way as she trekked through the forest. Though, perhaps she was more irritated at her inability to find the ruffian and the girls than she was at the situation.

A branch caught on her kimono.

She grumbled. "Perhaps not."

"Uncle Sano! Uncle Sano! This way! This way!"

"Are you sure? I could've sworn we were supposed to be going the other way . . ."

"Uncle Sano, look how high I can climb!"

"Hey, get down from there! You'll hurt yourself!"

Megumi peeked through a bush and, taking in the scene, could barely contain herself from laughing. There stood the dreaded street fighter, Zanza, just barely failing to scale a tree, trying to retrieve little Suzume while Ayame tugged on his pant leg to get him to go in the opposite direction. His arm outstretched toward the smaller girl with the other wrapped securely around the trunk of the tree, he could do nothing to prevent his pants from slipping slightly due to Ayame's pulling.

"Kid, could you stop that?" Sanosuke ground out rather irritably as he snatched Suzume from the high limb. He jumped to the ground with his charge just in time to see tears beginning to form on the edges of Ayame's wide, brown eyes. "Aw, come on now, don't start-"

"Waaah!" Ayame began weeping, crying to the world how her Uncle Sano did not like her anymore.

"Shit . . ." Sano muttered to himself. "Look, I didn't mean to snap at you, I just . . . fuck it," he said when he saw his apology would have no effect on the child. "Okay, if I show you a trick will you stop crying?"

The tears instantly abated and, though her eyes were still moist and ready to leak at any second, Ayame nodded earnestly. Suzume's eye's brightened as well.

Sanosuke sighed. "All right then," he said as he squatted down before the two girls, picking up a pebble. Ayame and Suzume leaned in expectantly, eyes glued to his hands and wondering what they would do next.

"Okay, you see this rock?" Sano asked. The girls nodded. He held the stone in his right hand as he said, "Well, I'm gonna make it disappear."

"Really?"

"Yup," he answered their question. "Now I just take the pebble in here, turn it like this, twist my hand like so, flip it over and-oof!"

"Haha, Uncle Sano do fun falling-down trick!" Suzume squealed. Sanosuke, who had been concentrating so much on his parlour trick that he lost his focus on his footing, rubbed his butt gingerly (where he had unfortunately fallen on the pebble he was using). Ayame tried to help him up.

"Well, that was quite an amazing trick," Megumi could not help but comment on Sanosuke's antics. "Not only did you manage to make a complete fool of yourself, but you made it entertaining as well."

"M-Megumi?" His turned around quickly, dislodging Ayame's hands and causing him to fall over again. "Shit . . ."

"Get up, you idiot," Megumi rolled her eyes with a smile and reached down, lifting him to a sitting position. "We've lost enough time because of your larking about."

"Uncle Sano got us lost," Ayame stated excitedly, as though it had been done all on purpose just so they could have fun.

"I see that," the doctor folded her arms. "And it's about time we actually reach our destination. At this rate we only have a few hours before we have to start heading back to the house."

"Oh no!" Ayame exclaimed.

"No, no! Pick flowers now!" Suzume added and pulled her sister with her into a run.

"W-wait! You don't know where you're going!" Sanosuke and Megumi shouted together. They looked at each other, blinked, looked like they were about to say something, then thought against it.

Sanosuke finally stood up. "Well, looks like we're running again."

"I'm not going to r-"

"See ya, Fox!" And off he went in pursuit of the little ones.

Megumi groaned. "One of these days I'm going to nail his feet to the ground. Repeatedly."

* * *

There was calm in the kitchen as Kenshin just finished up drying the dishes. As he set the last one down, he saw Kaoru from the corner of his eye, sweeping the kitchen floor steadily. He wondered briefly if that was some kind of stress-relief technique she used. Manual labour went a long way in relaxing ones nerves, Kenshin was one to attest.

"Miss Kaoru?"

She started at the sound of his voice, nearly dropping the broom. "What is it, Kenshin?" she was able recover.

"Would you like to talk?" the wanderer smiled knowingly. "You seem a little distracted, that you do."

"Distracted?" she laughed. "What makes you think tha-ack!"

There was a crash as she tripped over the bottom of the broom and landed face first at Kenshin's feet.

It took a little while for Kenshin to help Kaoru back up from her fall. "Let's start over," he said. "Miss Kaoru, you haven't been quite yourself this morning, that you haven't."

She tried ineffectually to straighten up her hair and brush herself off. "Well I . . . erm . . ." she began to blush.

"If you don't wish to talk about it with me, that's fine," Kenshin smiled his charming wanderer's smile and bent to pick up the broom.

"Well, uh, what about you? You acted very strangely yesterday," Kaoru tried to avoid the topic. "Was it something someone said?"

Kenshin smiled again. "Yes and no. It was unintentional, so I don't think there was any harm done by it anyway."

"Let me guess, Sanosuke decided to shoot off his mouth again," Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't that," the swordsman shook his head. "It's just that when he explained to Yahiko that he had used a katana, it reminded me that I wasn't the only one who had his share of battles. I'd never even realised, never thought about . . . the fact that maybe others . . ."

"Maybe others could empathize?" Kaoru said softly.

"Exactly," he closed his eyes with another small smile.

Kaoru looked confused. "Why would that make you sad though, Kenshin? You didn't seem too comforted last night."

He fidgeted with his loose shirt. "Just because we share some level of understanding doesn't mean that we'll go out and talk about it. Memories like that aren't ones to really be shared aloud, that they aren't. And the fact that someone else had to suffer as well . . . and to know how it feels-it's just a little much."

"Oh," Kaoru responded eloquently. "Well that's all right though, because you and Sanosuke are really strong guys. And what happened in the past is the past; you don't have to be judged by what you've done, but what you're doing now."

Kenshin's eyes shot up. How can she miss the point entirely and still understand it so completely? His mind raced, taking in her beatific smile and her simplistic solution in a whirl of subtle emotions. He pretended to not notice her watching him putting the broom away as he answered, "That's true," with a new gleam in his eyes.

"So, Miss Kaoru, I think it's your turn to explain . . ." he tucked his hands into his sleeves, his smile never ceasing.

Kaoru looked a little hesitant.

". . . That it is," Kenshin had no idea how commanding and compelling his gentle voice could be to the young girl. Or maybe he did and simply decided to make the most of it.

"Well, last night . . . after dinner," her flush flared up again, "I couldn't sleep, really," she cut off her dialogue quickly. "That's all."

"Ah," Kenshin said knowingly. "It's all right if you don't want to talk to me about it. I still have some laundry to do out in the back and . . ." He turned and started for the exit.

"No, no-I mean, you don't have to leave. I'll tell you, Kenshin. I like talking to you," Kaoru stammered out.

Kenshin stopped and turned back around. He didn't ask her to continue, but his eyes prompted lightly.

"Erm . . ." the embarrassed lump in her throat made it a difficult for her to speak. "Well . . . I couldn't sleep last night because . . . well, I . . . I'm so shy!" she grabbed her face with another bright blush.

". . ." there really was not any response Kenshin could give for that. Deciding that she did not look as though she would explain any further, he deemed it the best time to get that laundry done. Stepping lightly, he was stopped by a tug on his sleeve.

"Kenshin, I . . ." Kaoru looked like she wanted to say something and like she wanted to nail her mouth shut at the same time.

"It's all right, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin turned around, realizing only too late how close that put him into her proximity. He could see the indecision flittering in her eyes, her big bright indigo eyes. He swallowed. "Some secrets are best left kept."

Her grip tightened around his sleeve as her hand began to shake a little. There was a rush of heartbeats as Kaoru struggled to speak.

"I . . . I couldn't sleep because I heard," her apprehension slowly dissipated as she stood near Kenshin. ". . . outside my room," she clutched her hand to the front of her kimono, inadvertently drawing the wanderer's gaze there for a second, "in the middle of the night . . . Yahiko and Sanosuke were talking abo—_Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!_"

There was a crash as Yahiko tackled her from behind with a "shut up, you ugly troll!" and Kaoru landed face first into Kenshin's chest.

It took a little while for Kenshin to help Kaoru back up from her dead faint after that.

* * *

"Auntie Megumi, look here!" Suzume rushed to a clump of bright flowers. "Aren't they pretty?"

The lady doctor, having immeasurably calmed, stepped lightly up the small knoll to catch up with the girl. She bent down to get a closer look at the flowers, their little star-shaped buds springing bright pink from a dark patch of grass. "Yes, they are pretty, but those aren't anything we need for medicine-but over here," Megumi continued, seeing the girl's crestfallen expression and pointing to another group of plants, "we can pick some of these flowers . . ."

Suzume brightened up and dragged Megumi to the selected patch.

"Hey . . . hey, Megumi!" Sanosuke called out as he was lead in a similar manner by the other girl, the difference being the fact that his arms were laden with flowers and leaves and flora of all sorts, so he was dragged by a leg of his white pants. When they reached the top of the hummock where Suzume and the doctor stood, the fighter let out a tired, "What are we supposed to do with these?"

"Carry them back home when we're done, of course," Megumi brushed it off and knelt down to begin her work.

"I mean right now. How are we supposed to carry them around, anyway?" he shifted his arms a little uncomfortably.

"What, are you telling me a few flowers are too much for the big, strong fighter Sanosuke? You seem to be doing just fine on your own," she finished her sentence with a definite snip of her clippers against the stem of a particularly healthy looking flower.

Sanosuke had an expression that looked as though he were about to yell or sneeze-or perhaps both. "I can't carry these around like this all day!"

"Then why don't you just put them down?" the vixen gave an exhausted sigh.

Sanosuke blinked. "Oh," he said, and the plants fell with a 'whump.' A slight rose tinged his cheeks and he scratched his head, mumbling "hadn't thought of that . . ."

Ayame suddenly perked up. "Hey, Uncle Sano, I have an idea!"

"Oh yeah, what is it, kid?" he squatted down at eye-level with her.

"Gimme your jacket!"

"What? Oh . . . um, okay . . ." he reluctantly agreed, as the article of clothing was already in the process of being taken when he assented. "What are you thinking there?"

Ayame simply smiled and held the jacket up, the 'aku' facing her as she took the sleeves and tied the ends in a little knot. Then she put it over her head in the fashion of an apron, but held the far corners up to create a large pouch. "Now I can carry the flowers for you, Uncle Sano!"

Sanosuke quirked his head. "Well, would you look at that? You know, Fox, I think this girl's cleverer than me or you are."

"It's 'than I am or you are,'" Megumi corrected absently. "Ayame, that's an excellent idea. You follow Sanosuke around with that and tell him which herbs to pick. You know which ones right?"

"Yeah," Ayame smiled enthusiastically. "You wanted lots of that alal . . . um . . . ala . . . aloe! You wanted lots of that aloe stuff, right?"

"Yes. And if you don't remember, I think the Rooster here remembers what it looks like from the last time I showed him."

"I don't know . . ." Sanosuke got a particularly devious glint to his eye, "my memory's a little fuzzy." He stepped up behind Megumi and leaned forward. "Why don't you just whisper in my ear what it looked like . . .?"

Megumi frowned with his head so close to her and his eyes so obviously looking down her front. "Insufferable cad," she rolled her eyes and slapped his face away, hard.

"Hey, it was only fair," the fighter rubbed his cheek a little; he had not expected that to actually hurt. "You got a pretty good look at me while this little monkey," he pointed to Suzume, "was climbing the tree and the other one was pulling down my pants."

Megumi looked shamefully taken aback. "What proof have you that I was there when that was going on?" she tried to act innocent, but it did not suit her well.

"Oh please," Sanosuke said, "like you'd ever miss the chance to see me get embarrassed."

She chose not to respond to that as she picked up her utensils and clipped yet another plant. "Just stop whining and go pick the flowers, Rooster-head."

"Yeah, yeah," Sanosuke grumbled under his breath, "damn bossy Fox." He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned back some distance down the hillock, Ayame rushing up as quickly as possible without losing any of the pickings from her makeshift basket.

"Which ones do we pick next, Uncle Sano?" the little girl cheerily grinned behind her dark bangs and braids.

Sanosuke scratched his head. "Well, this stuff in here's the aloe she wants," his arm widely gestured to a patch of plants beside them, many different types of flora nestled within it. "We can probably just follow it back up the hill as we go along, since it seems to grow in that direction."

"Okay!" Ayame held her pouch out further, expectant.

_Well this is a piece-of-shit job_, he knelt down and started rustling about for the elusive plants. _Stuck with the Fox and the two monkeys all day, getting my jacket all dirty with stupid, smelly medicinal herbs, embarrassing myself by getting lost . . . and not knowing what to do . . . and getting hit in the face . . . and-dammit, this job sucks._

He stuck a stalk of grass in his mouth to help calm his nerves after putting another bundle of flowers into his jacket draped about the little Ayame. He saw Suzume approaching with more.

"Pretty, pretty!" the pig-tailed girl released her arm's contents into the rapidly filling white cloth.

Sano could see the colours slowly staining the interior of his favourite article of clothing. "Uh, hey," he called over to Megumi, who was approaching their side of the hill. "Why don't you let this little one put the stuff that you pick in your clothes?"

"Nonsense," Megumi pulled her hair back and tied it with a strip of fabric. "We only need one; we're not going to be gathering that much."

"Of course it just has to be mine that we use . . ." he muttered, backing away as she knelt down in his spot to continue the work. He rolled his eyes. "And you have to take my spot, and make me move, and . . ." his muttering continued.

"Stop your whining and go over there," Megumi directed, pointing a little farther uphill. "You're wasting time."

"Tch," Sanosuke huffed, but did as she said. "Sometimes you can be so bossy, Fox-it's pretty unattractive."

She passed another flower to Suzume, who walked over put it in Ayame's pouch. "As if a man who gnaws on the remains of dead fish all the time has the right to say what's attractive and what isn't," she replied coolly.

Ayame shifted her collection of flowers to make it easier to hold as Sano loaded in some more. The stalk of grass switched from one side of his mouth to the other. "Hey, just because I have some weird habits doesn't mean I don't know attractive when I see it. And I know for a fact that women who act all haughty and snotty don't get many guys calling for them in the middle of the night."

"Are you insinuating that I'd lower myself to the position of prostitute?" she glared scathingly.

He ignored the daggers in his direction and pulled out some more plants. "You take everything as an attack, don't you?"

"I do not."

"You answered that pretty fast," Sanosuke smirked, knowing where he had the upper hand. "You're on the defence again. Don't you ever just have a normal conversation without making it a fight?"

"This coming from the notorious fighter himself," her eyes were flashing hotly. "You have no room to speak; you go around picking fights all the time."

He ignored her replies with a wry smile. "I bet debate and conversation are the same thing for you."

"My 'debate' is much more intelligent than any conversation you'll ever hope to have."

"If you consider talking in circles more intelligent, then suit yourself," Sanosuke shrugged it off and went back to work.

Ayame and Suzume blinked, confused at the two supposedly adult figures on either side of them.

_Let her chew on that for a while_, the ex-fighter for hire thought smugly, yanking a plant out from the ground a little too forcefully, pulling roots around with it. He simply shrugged and looked over in Ayame's direction.

"Oh, uh, you have another one of the thingies, Uncle Sano?" she asked, bustling up for him to place the plant into the pouch. Suzume took it as her cue to go and help her Auntie Megumi.

There was a silence between everyone present, though not tense-and not all that calm either.

_Why hasn't she said anything back?_ Sanosuke wondered, puzzled. _She never gives up on an argument so easily_. Another plant was picked for the collection.

_Did I . . ._ he paused, plant hanging in midair before being placed into the flower-laden garment, _did I beat her?_

His eyes glanced up to look across the way, giving him a good view of Suzume's head before she moved aside to give the doctor more room for her work. Megumi's face looked slightly distracted, slightly deep in thought. After she handed a few more flowers to Suzume and the girl left to deliver them to her sister, the lady doctor brushed aside the stray hairs that escaped the tail in a somewhat irritated manner.

_Hah, so I struck a nerve, eh?_ Sanosuke could not hide the satisfactory smirk. _Well serves her right for thinking I'm stupid._

"Well, I think that's about all we'll need from here," Megumi stood up a bit suddenly. "I'll go see if little Suzume and I can go and find a basket or something back at the house to carry what we collected today."

Sanosuke blinked. "Why don't we just carry them back in the way they are?"

"You expect me to allow the stench in your clothes to contaminate those plants any further?" she scoffed. "You really are stupid."

"Hey, nobody calls me-"

"Rooster-head, if we try to carry them back in your jacket, we'll probably lose most of them."

"You don't know that."

"Sure I do. Just look who's holding them."

Ayame smiled innocently at them when they stared, apparently not having heard, or having comprehended what had been said of her.

Sanosuke tried to imagine the arduous journey back with Ayame happily prancing down the hills, flowers strewn behind her. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm always right."

"What? No you're not!" he frowned. "You're just trying to get back at me for losing that last argument!"

"Get back at you? Ohoho, you have a lot to learn, Sanosuke," her hand delicately covered her mouth as she laughed.

"What?" he was fast growing ill-tempered. "What are you talking about? I don't have to learn anything, especially from you!" he resisted the urge to stick out his tongue, which, he thought, was an accomplishment.

"Of course you do," Megumi smiled deviously. "We never did finish that reading lesson."

"Aw, come on! I'm almost done with that shit anyway!" he crossed his arms. _Man, this is a turn from the way things were going with the other fight . . ._ he lamented.

"You're almost done with the basics. You've still all the three-character compounds to learn." The look in her eyes was positively evil.

"Oh," Sanosuke gulped.

He could almost feel his good luck fleeing the scene.

* * *

The crows scattered off their perches in the trees, their hoarse caws echoing in the empty clearing from which they departed. They passed over the head of a tall man, but he did not lift his eyes to watch them flee. His eyes closed and his stance straight and rigid, but deceptively calm, he bowed his head. Four stones standing before him repaid his respective gesture with silence. All of them were bare.

The wind blew the dark strands of hair before his face, and the man's eyes snapped up-a startlingly cold blue. His countenance not changing from his drawn frown, he let out a near imperceptible sigh of annoyance.

"State your business," his voice was flat.

A modest laugh came from the trees behind him. "Oh, so you knew I was there, eh? Hehe . . ." a new figure stepped out into the clearing, his embarrassed look seemingly gone unnoticed by the man in front of him. Messy brown hair sprouted atop his head, too long to stand up and too short drape past his nose. "I should've known not to try and fool the great Shinomori."

"Then please cease this game and tell the rest of our party to stop hiding."

"Heh," the other man laughed again, his hand going behind his head. "Guess the jig is up. You heard him, guys," he looked behind him into the shrubbery as he smiled. Two more men brought themselves into the sparse light of the clearing. "I told them we shouldn't try to sneak up on you, sir, but they just wouldn't listen. They really don't listen to me that often, you know. It's like I just-"

"Chugo," the largest of new group spoke, "get to the point."

Chugo pouted and crossed his arms, turning his head but resisting the urge to stick out his tongue. "Aww, you guys never even let me talk for just five min-"

"That's enough," another said. "We've kept Mister Shinomori waiting; it would be impolite to delay any further."

The one called Chugo straightened up immediately. "Yes, Sir. Anyway, Mr. Shinomori, we were wondering if the Oniwaban Group would be interested in-"

"No."

"Huh?" Chugo blinked. "But you didn't even let me finish . . ."

"I said no. The Oniwaban Group will no longer take any assignments from outside sources."

"Now wait a minute," the large one frowned, rumbling in his deep voice. "You can't just refuse us before we even tell you what the job is! And weren't you taking orders from Takeda before? How can you be saying that you don't take jobs when you've just had an employer so recently?"

"Leave."

"Excuse me?" the larger man, taken aback, was beginning to look menacing. His right hand twitched, as though he wanted to reach for a sword and his black eyes narrowed behind dark strands of long hair. His nose, which looked as though it had been broken on more than one occasion, crinkled in anger. "What did you just say?"

"Iwashiro," Chugo managed to warn, command, and look anxious at the same time.

"Shut up, Chugo. This guy thinks he can just order us around like-like we're _beneath_ him or something! He can't get away with that! You hear that, Mr. Stick-up-his-ass? Don't be thinking you can just tell us what to do when we're the ones who're re-"

"Mr. Iwashiro, do yourself a favour and shut up," the last man of the group spoke again, the immediate attention the other two gave him a clear sign of his leadership. Iwashiro looked disgruntled, but did as he was told. The leader stepped further out, his hands clasped behind his back in a thoughtful way.

"Mr. Shinomori, forgive my underlings-they know not to whom they speak. It's quite understandable why, due to recent events, you refuse to take any more assignments from others; however, I would advise you keep yourself open for this one in particular. In your last job, you had been working supposedly 'under' a man named Kanryuu Takeda, am I right?"

Aoshi Shinomori remained stonily silent.

The leader continued, seemingly unperturbed by this lack of reaction. "This Takeda was involved in a number of shady dealings . . . namely the drug and weapons industries. At the time when Takeda's operation was shut down, you lost four of your best men."

A leaf fell and brushed across one of the stone monuments.

"They died riddled with the bullets of that new Western invention . . . a Gatling gun, was it?" the man pressed. "A pity really . . . I'd heard they had been such excellent fighters. Well, in any case, I can assure you that our organization would take no such actions against you during any of our proceedings. You have my word as a man-and as a leader-that you've nothing to fear."

"Fear, as well as your word, means nothing to me." If anything, Shinomori's tone had become even steelier and still he refused to turn to acknowledge the visitors' presence.

"Hey now, Mister Shinomori," Chugo chided lightly, "don't you think you're being a bit rash with our leader? You haven't even heard what the job is yet! We swear it's for a good cause. We're gonna save all of Japan!"

"Give it a rest, Chugo. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass if he joins up or not. Whatever comes our way we can handle . . . and it just leaves more for us in the end anyway," Iwashiro drawled, crossing his arms in an irritated manner.

"Mr. Shinomori, I advise you listen to what we have to offer you. Our mission is to-"

"You've wasted enough of my time," Aoshi said, beginning to walk away. "There is nothing more to discuss."

"But . . . but . . ." Chugo looked helplessly from Iwashiro to his leader and back again. "But we're going to save Japan! Don't you want to save Japan?"

"There is nothing wrong with this nation that is more important than the mission I must already accomplish," was the curt reply from Shinomori's retreating back.

"Well don't you want to-I don't know, carry on the honour of the Oniwaban Group by protecting your nation?" Chugo was getting desperate.

"Chugo, let him go. We've no chance of convincing him now," the leader turned on his heel, followed soon by Iwashiro.

Chugo looked indecisive for a moment between leaving and trying to reel Aoshi Shinomori back into the scheme. "Isn't there someone out there that you want to protect? There's gotta be someone you care about so you'd fight for them!"

Aoshi stopped for a moment, though he did not turn around. "That is none of your concern . . . and you should keep your sympathetic talk of protecting lives for someone who cares."

"But . . ."

"Come on, Chugo," Iwashiro came back and grabbed the smaller man by the back of his shirt, dragging him away. "It's a lost cause."

Somewhere near Kyoto, a little ninja girl sneezed.


	11. Irritating!

CHAPTER ELEVEN – IRRITATING! Rubbing the Wrong Way

"Don't fidget so much," there was a sharp slap on Sanosuke's back.

"_Ow!_ Hey, you shouldn't be hitting a patient!"

"Maybe it'll teach you not to put a shirt back on that's been rubbed in plants with all sorts of toxic properties," Megumi frowned. "Now hold still while I put the ointment on it."

"But it's so itchy!"

Megumi simply frowned and dipped her fingers in the salve again. The sun had begun to set and the smells from the evening meal were wafting around the country house, mingling with the slight tinge of mint in the ointment on Sanosuke's back and in the jar at her knees. His shirt was crumpled beside him, stained green, orange, and lavender from the afternoon's collection of herbs. The wind ruffled it over to display half of the bold kanji on the back.

Sanosuke slumped in his seat on the edge of the porch, looking at it. "Hn. Guess it'll have to be washed after all."

"It's about time," Megumi muttered, but not as harshly as before. There was a distant crash from within the house, and the giggling laughter and pattering steps of Ayame and Suzume could be heard as Kenshin chided them gently. Otherwise, the only sounds heard from without were the rustling of leaves and grass, along with the occasional singing of a cricket. There was a click as she put the ointment back down on the wooden porch, and the salt water basin on her other side rippled.

Sanosuke felt a smooth hand on his right shoulder and breathed the fresh mint smell it gave off as it travelled in a small circle. The poppy-orange sun touched the tips of the trees on the horizon as the first few stars began to peek out from deepening blue above them. The warmth of the day was retreating beyond the tree-topped hills, and the encroaching shadows slowly began to still the singing of the birds. The salve spread over his shoulders like a cool silk, and the practiced ministrations of the doctor's fingers simultaneously pressed and relieved the muscles in his upper back. Sanosuke felt his skin meld into her touch.

"If you don't get it washed," Megumi continued, "the oil from the plants will still be in it, and we'll have to do this all over again. There must have been some sort of toxicodendron in that batch we got . . ." Her pondering drifted. "It would be a good idea to go to the hot springs tomorrow. The minerals in the water will help dry out the oil, and we can reapply this salve more effectively. We should probably also get some more salt water to help the drying process afterward."

"Toxico-what?" Sanosuke puzzled. "Where'd you learn that fancy word?"

Megumi dabbed her fingers again and began to trace them down the centre of his back. "A good doctor is always trying to improve her skills. I do a lot of reading."

A shiver went down Sanosuke's spine, following her fingertips. He wasn't sure if it was the coolness of salve when the wind hit it or not. "Yeah, but that doesn't sound like a normal word. What kind of books are you reading, Fox?"

Megumi finished her line down his back with a little dig of her fingernail at the last word. "Toxicodendron is the genus of a number of plants around the world. One of the kinds we have here in Japan is toxicodendron sylvestre. It's similar to what I've read in Western books on 'poison ivy.'"

"What kind of hocus-pocus language are you talking?" Sanosuke reached a hand over his shoulder to scratch, only to have it slapped away.

"The genus and species of a plant come from Greek and Latin," she explained. "'Toxicodendron' means 'poison tree,' and 'sylvestre' means 'of the woods.' These names are used in international texts on plants. They help doctors identify them."

"It's pretty hard to identify something when the name just means 'poison tree of the woods,'" Sanosuke responded flippantly.

Megumi rolled her eyes. "If you read the whole description and examine the pictures, it's not that hard to identify. After I finish this, I'll sort through the plants we gathered and remove the toxic ones from the collection. I don't know who put it in there, but I'm certainly glad I had us all wash our hands before coming back."

Sanosuke was slowly slipping a hand around to his back, and it received another sharp slap before retreating.

"If you scratch it, it will get worse and you'll have to wash your hands again. Touching it could spread the oil—to your face, your eyes, anywhere you put your hands."

He heaved a frustrated sigh. "You must read that boring stuff a lot if you have the names memorized and everything. I don't know how a normal person could stand it."

"I do spend a lot of time trying to improve my practice," Megumi conceded, "I've taken every possible opportunity to do so since my father had us study Dutch medicine in Nagasaki." She looked down at her hand quietly for a moment, absently feeling the salve between her fingers. Her eyes downcast, the last of the sunlight faded in her iris, unseen behind Sanosuke's body. "But not all of it is spent on reference books," she brought herself back. "Sometimes I read for pleasure."

"Oh?" Sanosuke chuckled. "And what does the fox-lady find pleasurable to read?"

"When I can, I try to read novels."

"Novels? What're those?"

"They're books about people's lives," Megumi closed the lid on the ointment and began to dip her hands in the salt water to wash them. "They talk about the choices characters make, and the effect of those choices on the characters' ultimate happiness."

"Hm. So everyone ends up with the ultimate happiness at the end?"

"Not always. The book I got from Mr. Mikamura doesn't appear to be going that way."

"So, what, it's another one of those Western books? German? Dutch?"

"I've been getting a number of Western books from Mr. Mikamura. Most of them are on Western medicine—you'd be amazed at how many things are changing—but this one is an English book."

"Since when do you know English?"

"I don't. Mr. Mikamura is kind enough to give me translations."

"So even I could read this book, huh?" Sanosuke smirked.

"You'd have to learn a lot more kanji to get to this level," Megumi deflated him. "You should stick to the fairy stories." She flicked a bit of salt water in his face with a playful grin.

"Why you—"

"Sanosuke! Miss Megumi! Dinner's just about ready, that it is!"

* * *

"Would you like more rice, Isamu?" Gensai offered.

"Hm?" Isamu swallowed down the last of his bowl. "Uh, sure. Thanks."

Gensai smiled as he scooped more for the boy. The day's patients come and gone, the evening meal was quiet but for the small clicks of the chopsticks against the bowls.

"Wow!" Kikeiko smiled. "Isamu must really be getting better! You can see because he's eating so much more. Isn't that right, Doctor Gensai?"

"Indeed, he must be," Gensai commented. "If you feel up to it, Isamu, we might try going for a walk tomorrow and test out your ankle. The tendon should be healed enough by now for at least a short one."

"Mm," Isamu finished off the newest portion of his meal. "All right," he seemed impassive.

"Well," Gensai stood up, "since it seems we've managed to polish off our dinners, I'll get started on the dishes."

Kikeiko started to stand up. "Do you need any h—" she was interrupted by a fit of coughing that caused her to sink down, resting her hand on the table with her other hand covering her mouth with her handkerchief. Isamu came to her side and held her shoulders as they heaved.

"Don't strain yourself, Kikeiko," Gensai stopped her, gently concerned. "Isamu, why don't you bring her to bed? I think Kikeiko's spent too much time outside today."

"Does . . . does this mean I can't go on the walk with Isamu?" Kikeiko raised her large brown eyes.

"Just rest now," Gensai answered. "We'll see how you are in the morning and then decide. We'll make it a short walk, right, Isamu?"

"Huh?" Isamu suddenly snapped back to attention. He had been staring again. "Oh, yeah. A short one."

"All right," Gensai affirmed, "off to bed with you. I'll tackle this obstacle," he gestured to the dishes. "You just worry about not tripping on the floorboards. The one outside Kikeiko's bedroom is loose."

"Got it," Isamu stood slowly with Kikeiko in one arm, his crutch in the other. The night seemed still as he walked down the exterior porch to Kikeiko's room. There was hardly any wind to brush the rope over the well, or to rustle the herb garden leaves as his bare feet pattered on the polished wood floor, accompanied by the tap of his crutch. Stepping closer to her room, he glanced as he saw Kikeiko's braid fall forward over her shoulder and paused slightly, breathing in the smell her hair gave off before his foot made an interrupting creak on the loose floorboard.

"Be careful," Kikeiko smiled. "We'll both fall down if you trip on that."

"I said I got it," Isamu huffed, embarrassed. He pulled open the door with his crutch. "There. Good night," he nearly dropped her in her room, blushing.

"Wait," Kikeiko supported herself on the doorframe. "After . . . after I get changed, would you tell me a story?"

"Only kids need stories," Isamu puffed himself up.

"Please," her hand held her chest as her breathing started to become irregular. "Doctor Gensai falls asleep and snores before he finishes, and everyone else is gone." Her hand slipped a little on the doorframe. "Besides, it's still kind of early. I don't want to sit alone in here for hours."

Isamu exhaled resignedly. "Fine. I'll be back in ten minutes."

A light cloud passed across the moon as a few minutes passed, and Isamu came back in his yukata with a tapping of his crutch. Kikeiko opened the door at the sound of it, kneeling with a shawl over her own night clothes and a grin on her face.

"All right, let's get this done."

Kikeiko frowned at his curt statement.

Isamu plopped himself down on the other side of Kikeiko's spread-out futon with his arms crossed, but relented at the sight of her pouted lip. He rolled his eyes and tapped the futon in a semblance of invitation.

Kikeiko leapt under the blankets faster than one in her condition ought to be able. Eager eyes peeking out from the covers, she insisted, "Tell me, tell me, tell me."

"Look, I don't know what you're expecting," Isamu grumbled. "I don't have any stories to tell you except one's you've probably already heard."

"We can make one then," Kikeiko smiled, her rosy cheeks emerging over the edge of the blanket.

"Hn," Isamu looked dubious. "Fine. Don't these things start all the same? Once upon a time or whatever?"

"Yup."

"Okay. Once upon a time . . . there was a . . . guy."

"Prince."

"What?"

"You have to make him a prince. All the stories in papa's books have princes. Or shepherds. Is he a prince or a shepherd?"

"What the hell's a shepherd?"

"I don't know, but stories have them."

"Well, fine. He's a prince then. Once upon a time there was a prince. But nobody knew that he was a pri—"

"You forgot the handsome part!"

"What now?" Isamu sighed.

"Princes are handsome. You have to say what he looked like and where he's from."

"What does it matter where he's from? He's just a made-up prince!"

"Well, he's at least handsome!"

"Fine, fine. Once upon a time there was a prince, and he was very handsome. But nobody knew he was a prince because his kingdom was destroyed."

"Oh no!" Kikeiko was getting very involved.

"But his mother the queen managed to secretly escape with her son when he was very little to a big city where nobody knew where they were from."

Kikeiko revealed her face from the blankets with relief.

Emboldened by the sight of her face, Isamu continued. "The queen disguised herself as a seamstress to support her son as they pretended to be peasants. The work was very hard, but she was able to help her son grow into a strong boy."

"What were the prince's and queen's names?"

"The queen was called Yuko and the prince was . . . er, Takeshi." Isamu fumbled.

"What about the father? What happened to the king?"

"There is no king in the story."

"But . . . what happened to him? Did he die when the kingdom was destroyed?"

"No, he . . . yes, but . . . he was just dead, okay? He's not in the story."

"Oh."

"Anyway, Takeshi, the prince, never knew what happened to the kingdom or that he was a prince. Takeshi and Yuko were happy living their lives like normal people. Yuko would make beautiful kimonos for the people, and she was the most skilled seamstress in the entire prefecture. People would come from miles around to see her pretty patterns."

Kikeiko was beginning to imagine the scene, "I bet she made beautiful blossoms and leaves in the fabric . . . maybe even famous places and pictures!"

"That's right," Isamu smiled. "She could stitch anything from Mount Fuji to sakura blossoms that looked so real you could almost smell them. But a new, evil king moved in to the prefecture and decided to take over."

"Oh no!" Kikeiko was raptly interested. "What was his name?"

"Nishi no Gyokai."

"Western Industry?" Kikeiko frowned. "That's an awful name."

"He was an awful king who thought he could just come in and take what he wanted," Isamu explained. "When the new king came in, he was jealous of Yuko's special abilities and made it so no one would buy any of her beautiful kimonos. Because no one was buying, she was forced to send her son Takeshi away."

"How sad!" Kikeiko's brows furrowed. "You can't tell me a sad story before I sleep! What happens next?"

"It's not all sad," Isamu went on. "Queen Yuko told Prince Takeshi to never forget where he came from and that he did not have to settle for obeying the imposter, King Nishi. She gave him a sash that described his ancestry. It showed his uncle, who was a great warrior, and his father, who was from a famous line of . . . uh, sorcerers . . . erm, sorcerer kings—'cause he's a prince. They had the power of life and death, on both sides. She gave him the sash right before she helped him escape from the evil new king, so he could try to find the comrades of his uncle, the warrior."

"Did he find them? Did he find the comrades?"

"Unfortunately, they had been killed in the many battles throughout the country. They had spread out in different cities; they had stopped being warriors. Only a few remained who were still brave and had the spirit left to fight anymore. Together, they supported each other until the time would be right for them to fight back and make things right, the way they used to be."

"Wow!" Kikeiko grinned. "I'm glad Takeshi found his warrior comrades. What happens next?"

Isamu yawned. "His comrades helped Takeshi learn to fight like they do, and they supported him until he would be strong enough to face the evil king and be reunited with his mother," he stretched his back a little. "His brothers-in-arms looked out for him and made sure he became a very tough guy, and he was pretty happy for a while."

"And, and?"

"And I'm tired. I can tell you the rest of it some other time, okay?" Isamu rubbed his eyes. "I think that's enough story," he picked up the blankets that had fallen away from her face and shoulders and tucked her in, smoothing the edges until his hand brushed hers.

Kikeiko blushed. "Thank you for the good story, Isamu. You're very good at story-telling."

His mouth went dry, and he picked up his hand from hers uncomfortably.

"Well, good night," Isamu stiffly stood up. He snuffed the single lantern in the room and opened the shoji door, letting little trickles of moonlight onto the tatami. He stopped a little before he went out as Kikeiko softly called after him.

"Good night, Isamu."

He turned his head a little. "Sleep well." He closed the door and headed to his room, and the floorboard creaked again when he tapped it with his crutch.

* * *

"You look tired, Sano, that you do."

Sanosuke glanced sideways at him over the dark bags beneath his eyes. "It's too early to go to be outside yet, Kenshin."

"But," Kenshin blinked, "it's afternoon already."

Kaoru shifted the bucket in her hands. "It's not that I'm normally surprised when Sanosuke likes to sleep in, since he's lazy all the time," she ignored Sano's glare, "but what happened last night? It's not like you could have gone out anywhere. We're in the middle of Izu forest!"

"I was too itchy to sleep."

"Itchy?" Yahiko joined Kaoru in the question.

"That rash on your back looks bad," Kenshin fell back behind Sanosuke and pointed to his uncovered shoulders, "that it does. Is that why you didn't get out of bed for breakfast?"

"This big lug thought it'd be a good idea to wear contaminated clothing," Megumi sighed, explaining as the group walked up the mountain path. "Don't touch it, or the rash could spread to you," she warned at Kenshin's pointing finger.

Kenshin snapped his hand back.

Sanosuke groaned as everyone stared at his backside. While his jacket was drying from its thorough scrubbing, he had taken to not wearing any covering on his back at all—anything touching his back seemed to inflame it further. He had even spent the whole night trying to sleep on his belly, an unaccustomed and ultimately unsuccessful sleeping position for him. "Well, don't treat me like I've got some sort of plague or something!" he barked at the rest of the group, who had taken to walking quite a distance behind him.

They took a few steps closer, but not too many.

"In any case," Sano grumbled, "the fox doctor says the spring should wash off the poison plant oil stuff, so it'll be no problem soon."

"Toxin, not poison. It's classified as a toxic plant," Megumi adjusted the towel in her bucket. "It's not that strong of an irritant."

"It's irritating enough for me right now," Sanosuke huffed, "and you're not helping any!"

"Sanosuke," Kaoru interrupted his ranting, "won't the oil spread in the hot springs? I mean, to other people in the same pool?"

"I think it would," Kenshin mused.

"Eww, Sanosuke, you can get your own pool," Yahiko started walking up ahead of him contemptuously. "I'm not catching that nasty skin rash."

"It's probably for the best," Megumi assented. "There is a slight chance the oil could sit on top of the water and spread to someone who's sitting too close, even if you rinse yourself before getting into the hot spring."

Sanosuke's face fell. "So I'm quarantined even when I'm supposed to be relaxing with friends?"

"It's not our fault you got into the itchy plant stuff," Yahiko and Kaoru stated at the same time.

"Some friends," Sano pouted sarcastically.

"In any case," Kaoru said as the roof of the hot spring house came into view, "this will help you get better, so you shouldn't complain too much."

"Hm," Megumi smirked with a finger to her chin, "I suppose after this, your back might be cleansed enough to put your shirt back on tonight, without Sir Ken having to wash it again. Of course, if he has to wash it again tomorrow, I'd be more than willing to help," she leaned into Kenshin's shoulder in a fluid motion, a sly look on her face.

Kaoru reddened. "Oh, Megumi?" her voice strained in defensiveness. "Are you sure you won't be sad to see Sanosuke put all his clothes back on? You spent a long time rubbing his back last night . . . maybe you'll miss seeing-"

"That was strictly professional," Megumi snapped quickly, narrowing her eyes menacingly back at her.

"Now, now," Kensin, caught in the middle yet again, tried to prevent the oncoming fight. "We're here, that we are!"

A quick rinse and a strip-down from everyone, and they were soaking up the minerals of the hot springs.

* * *

"Are you sure it's a good idea to go in just towels? Remember last time—"

"They wouldn't dare," Kaoru stated matter-of-factly. "Besides, Sanosuke's separated in the farthest pool, and Kenshin will keep Yahiko from anything."

"Oh?" Megumi's tone was mischievous as she slowly slipped her foot in the water. "And what about Sir Ken himself?"

The question caught Kaoru off-guard. "W-what about him?"

"Well, he _is_ a man, you know," Megumi slid her towel to her hair, bundling up the tresses and exposing her pale neck. "Or did you forget?"

"Of course I didn't forget that!" Kaoru blushed, insulted.

"So then, you just don't think he wants to see you?" Megumi slid away from ripples Kaoru made as the girl stepped in the spring. Fox ears seemed to spring up through her towel. "Perhaps because he doesn't think of you as a _real_ woman?"

"_Megumi_," Kaoru's face was menacing, "you're pushing it."

"Yay, hot springs!" Ayame charged ahead and splashed into the hot water in a flurry of dark hair and towels.

"Splashy, splashy!" Suzume called after her sister from the hot spring house.

"Careful, you two!" Kaoru switched gears, concerned.

Megumi rubbed the water from her eyes, "That's right, you don't want to fall and hurt yourself, Suzume."

"Splashy, splashy!" Suzume continued racing, kicking up sheets of water as she entered the spring, only to plop right onto her face as she lost her footing. Her bare bottom peeked out from the spring like a pair of pale peach islands before she sprang up to right herself, all tears and a scrape on her forehead. "_Owwww!_"

"Oh, Suzume," Megumi chided gently, "come here," the lady doctor took her in one arm and brushed some hair from her forehead to examine the scrape. Suzume's eyes were big and watery. "Well, it doesn't look like it should hurt that badly. It should heal in a day or so with no scarring."

"But, but—" Suzume's breath threatened a sob.

"I know," Megumi used some of the spring water to clean out any residual dirt from the wound with a soft hand, "you're just embarrassed. It's okay, we won't tell anybody that you fell."

Suzume's eyes seemed to revert back to their normal size, and she rejoined her sister, who had begun to toy with some of the leaves on the other end of the pool.

Megumi's gaze followed the girls as they picked and examined the plants growing at the edge of the spring. The steam from the spring drifted up to her face and she smelled the mineral salts rising up, blurring the two girls before her eyes.

"Megumi?"

"Hm?" the lady doctor blinked.

"You're good with them," Kaoru smiled, forgetting their prior tension. "I know you've only been established at Doctor Gensai's clinic a short while, but you seem to really belong there, like a family."

Megumi looked slightly puzzled. "Thank you?" she responded, for lack of better words.

"Have you thought about it?"

"Thought about what?"

"Family," Kaoru sidled over to sit near the older woman. "I mean, in the future. You must have suitors who come to the clinic."

Megumi looked distant before she defensively quipped, "What use have I for suitors when Sir Ken is around?"

"M-Megumi," Kaoru's eye twitched. "You're not _really_ serious about Kenshin, are you?"

"And who said I wasn't?" the vixen pursed her lips.

"But," Kaoru insisted, "don't you have feelings for . . . for someone else?"

"Where are you coming up with this, Kaoru?" Megumi crossed her arms over her submerged chest. "You keep making assumptions about my love life that you have no right to make and no reason to pry into."

Kaoru looked down, slightly shamed. "I-I'm sorry, Megumi. I just . . . with Kenshin . . . I wish you would stop. I mean, he's . . . he's the only one I . . . I—"

"Hmph," Megumi looked at the girl, imperious. "The only one? You still think there is only one love for a person? How . . . immature."

"What are you saying?" Kaoru's brows furrowed together.

"Only a child would believe that there is only one love for a person in this world."

"Then you don't," Kaoru continued, "believe in true love?"

"The number of great loves in one's life doesn't lessen the truth of them," Megumi's tone was remote. Her reflection in the spring water rippled the deep maroon of her eyes back at her. "If that were so, then I could no longer hope . . . to find happiness in love."

"Megumi," Kaoru's voice softened with concern, "what do you mean?"

* * *

"What are they talking about?" Yahiko cupped a hand to his ear as close to the bushes that divided the hot springs as he dared.

"Chick stuff, probably," Sanosuke grumbled from his side of the spring. "What does it matter? It won't be anything to do with you."

"It's been too quiet over there," Yahiko huffed back to his spot. "I just don't like it when they might be planning something."

"I'm sure they're not up to anything," Kenshin smiled. "In any case, we should just enjoy our time here, that we should. It's not every day we get a chance to relax like this."

"You got it!" Sanosuke agreed enthusiastically. "What do you say we make the most of it?" He suddenly pulled out a large jug of sake and pounded it down on the rocks dividing their pools.

"S-Sano," Kenshin started, surprised. "Where did you get that?"

"I brought it up with me." Sano shrugged. "C'mon, take some. You said you wanted to relax." Sanosuke took a big swig from it before wiping the top and slamming it back down with a refreshed outward breath. "Nothing like a drink to warm ya up in a warm spring, huh?"

"I'll drink to that!" Yahiko stretched an arm to the jug.

"Yahiko, are you sure you should?"

"Aww, c'mon, Kenshin. He can have a few sips," Sanosuke laughed. "But just to be clear, you're the one fishing him out if he sinks, okay?"

Kenshin sighed, but asked for the sake after Yahiko had his turn.

* * *

"Megumi?" Kaoru questioned the other woman's silence.

Megumi seemed an alabaster statue of herself, stiff and cold despite the heat from the water swirling around her. Her eyes hard as garnet stones, they refused to meet with Kaoru's concerned face. "When I left Aizu," Megumi stated, as if she were far away, disconnected from the words that passed her tight red lips, "I was glad to be apprenticed to anyone. There were very few—very few—doctors who would allow a woman to study under them as an apprentice. I was so grateful, so overwhelmed that after all that time searching for my brothers and my mother and coming up empty . . . I was grateful that I could have a chance to practice my family's profession. I was grateful not to be alone . . ."

* * *

"Here, let me show you," he takes the pestle from her hand, and takes her fingers in his own. "Place your fingertips on the plant here, and press. Do you feel that?"

Megumi's face tinges pink at the contact. "Y-yes, Doctor Mizushima." The sun is barely shining up from the eastern horizon, and the edges of the first rays rise over the tops of packed houses, glancing off the tiles of the adjacent roofs and dotting the ceiling inside the small room set aside as a pharmacy. Mizushima's hands move Megumi's fingers, guiding them and helping them to travel in small circles over the plant. His hands and breath are warm as she feels one on the skin of her hand and the other on her neck.

"You see," Mizushima instructs, "you remember what we talked about before? Touch is extremely important. You need to know where internal parts are without guesswork, without diagrams."

As both their fingers work together along the exterior of the plant, they cover the slight lump where the seed is located. Pressing around it, they manage to slowly squeeze it out of its green sheath, allowing it to drop into the stone mortar. His hands maintain their hold on hers.

"I . . . I still have a lot to learn," Megumi smiles, slightly embarrassed.

"We all do," Mizushima breathes, his face close to hers, "even after we've completed the required training, _Doctor_ Takani." He emphasizes her title as he gazes in her eyes. "You never stop learning, and every experience teaches you something," one of his hands trails up her smock to cup her cheek, "new."

"Hiroshi—ah, Doctor Mizushima," Megumi stumbles in her speech, sinking into the hand upon her face. "Thank you."

He laughs a little. "For what? I'm the one who should thank you. Most apprentices are so slow they're a burden, but you—you, Megumi, have a true gift." He pulls her head closer, brushing her forehead with his lips and taking in the scent of her hair. "I'm just glad I could help you in some way."

Megumi sighs, her eyes closed for a moment. "Doctor," the title barely comes out as a whisper, "should we prepare that pain killer for Mr. Takeda now?"

"Yes, I suppose," he is reluctant to let her go. "Why don't you sort it out? I'll finish this up here," he indicates the herbs in the stone mortar. "He should be here to pick it up in an hour or so. He also said he wanted to talk today. Heh," Mizushima gives out a small, sardonic chuckle, "maybe this time he'll negotiate a decent price to pay us for it. That stuff's not cheap, you know."

* * *

"I was so blinded," Megumi's eyes were downcast, "I couldn't see the faults he had, what was right in front of me." Her reproach for herself was palpable, "or what would happen because of my loving trust. All I saw was what I wanted to see, and I wanted it so badly . . ."

"Megumi . . ." Kaoru hesitated to reach out to the other woman, feeling helpless.

"And so," Megumi's drained expression turned steely, "after that, I decided I wouldn't glance over anyone's faults anymore. I wouldn't allow myself to be taken in anymore . . . so when I met Sir Ken, how could I not feel love for him?"

Kaoru's eyes met Megumi's challenging stare.

"How could I not feel love for a man whose only discernable fault is an abundance of compassion?"

"I—but, I—" Kaoru could return no words to her.

"So do _not_ tell me that a woman can only love once in this world," Megumi chided the girl. "You may have only felt its sting just now, but the human heart is capable of any number of things, least of all loving more than one person."

Kaoru's head fell a little at her elder's castigation, examining her face in the spring's reflection and noting the girlish features of her youthful face.

"There is no 'one and only' for a person. Do you truly believe that Sir Ken hasn't had a love in the past himself?"

"I . . . I had never really thought about it," Kaoru's voice was small.

"He's twenty-eight. Surely a heart as great as Sir Ken's would have found love some time before now. Thinking otherwise isn't just immature," Megumi stated coolly, "it's selfish."

"I'm sorry," Kaoru felt her stomach tighten. "I didn't mean . . ."

"I will never," Megumi went on, "give up my love for Sir Ken. I can't. I can't forget my love, or respect, or admiration of that man. And if our hearts should meet, I would not hesitate."

Kaoru's sad silence created a long pause between them.

"Of course," Megumi's expression softened to the girl, "neither should you."

The young woman, feeling so much more a little girl after Megumi's admissions, looked up to be greeted with a soft and understanding smile. Megumi's delicate fingers held the Kamiya girl's shoulder reassuringly.

"True love isn't something that happens suddenly, or only once in a lifetime," her words sounded like the weathered honesty of experience, "true love is the meeting, the understanding, of two hearts."

"So," Kaoru started to speak, encouraged, "we'll just have to see whose heart meets Kenshin's first then."

As Ayame and Suzume's laughter floated around the spring, oblivious to the prior conversation, the two women sat in a sympathetic silence, as if looking upon the newly opened gate leading to an amicable understanding.

"_Hey, gals!_" Yahiko's voice pierced through the hedges boisterously. "We're gettin' wrinkly o'er—hic—here," his words tripped between hiccoughs, "an' we're outta sake! Lessgo home!"

"Be careful, Yahiko, and don't slip!" Kenshin's worried voice followed.

"Lay off 'im, Kenshin!" Sanosuke's barrel-laugh rumbled. "Let'im have his fun."

"C'mon, we gotta get more from th' house!"

"You shouldn't be walking so recklessly on the wet rocks, Yahiko, that—"

There was a distinctly Yahiko-sounding plop and a splash.

"—you shouldn't . . ."

Megumi and Kaoru blinked at each other until they could not help but laugh.

* * *

"And . . . that . . . should . . . do it!" Mikamura smiled as he wiped the sweat off his brow. The particularly heavy oil lamp stood securely on the highest shelf above the slender man as he descended his step ladder.

Mikamura adjusted his tie as he hopped down. "All I have left is sweeping the entrance, and we're closed for the night," he smiled to no one in particular. Picking up his broom from the corner, he made his way to the front of the shop.

"Excuse me?" A voice called from the entrance.

"Oh!" Mikamura set his broom aside and ran a hand through his short grey-brown hair. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Are you closed?" a pleasant-looking young man stood outside to meet Mikamura's gaze. He held a Japanese umbrella slung across his shoulders, pushing his thin, short ponytail to fall around his neck rather than behind it. "I was hoping I might come just before."

"Come in, come in," Mikamura smiled insistently. "I was just cleaning up, but we can stay open for a little while longer."

"Great," the young man smiled. He stepped in, shifting the umbrella to one shoulder and smiling up to his light brown eyes, guarded by short, messy strands of hair.

Mikamura scrambled a few cluttered items out of the way so the customer could enter easily. "So," he said between excited breaths, "what can I interest you in? Lamps? Shaving razors?"

The young man laughed lightly. "I'm not sure I need much by way of those," he pointed to his clean face.

"Ah, yes of course," Mikamura understood sheepishly.

"I was wondering, actually, if you had any books."

"Books? Oh, yes, books!" Mikamura snapped to. "Yes, I've got loads of books! Anything particular in mind?"

The young man was gazing around the shop, as if to appraise everything that met his eye. "Hm?" he stopped examining a pocket watch he had picked up. "Oh, I was looking for some Western literature, actually. You wouldn't happen to have any, would you?"

"Would I?" Mikamura flashed a grin. "My boy, you're looking at the prime collector and translator of Western books in all of Tokyo!"

"You don't say?" Something in the young man's tone did not convey the correct amount of surprise for the statement.

"Oh yes, I've got everything under the western sun! What are you looking for? Travel logs? Adventure stories?"

"I'm afraid to admit," the young man fiddled with the end of his umbrella, "that I can't read the books in the original language, though. Would you still be able to help me?"

"Of course, of course! I told you, I translate the books too. Any book I get, I translate it so anyone in Tokyo can read it."

"Anyone?"

"Yes," Mikamura energetically started going through the titles on a bookshelf in the corner. "Granted, depending on the book, the language can get a bit tricky, even in the translation, but I've got readers from all walks. The sweet shop two blocks down? He gets books for Western candies that the folks just go nuts for! And the lady doctor at the Oguni Clinic? She gets the latest medical journals from Germany and the Netherlands. Even the tavern at the end of the street—the barkeep can't get enough of those horror stories that American writer makes—made . . . what's his name? Popo? Poe! You'd like that, I'm sure. Very interesting, sort of detective stories, you know."

"Yes," the young man sounded distracted. "That sounds good. I'll take one of those detective books."

"And here we are!" the merchant's hands snatched up a cheaply bound brown book. "It's a collection I've made of the short stories. You can come back to me if you want another, or you feel up to reading the poetry."

"I'm not much of a man for poetry," the customer reached into his sleeve to pull out the money for the book. "How much?" He held out a few coins.

Mikamura quickly counted what he saw in the boy's hand with a tilt of his round spectacles. "That should be it. Can I interest you in anything else?"

"No, I think this will be more than enough," the young man placed his coin purse back in his sleeve and began to head out of the shop.

"Wait! You almost forgot your book!" Mikamura dashed up to him and thrust the book out to the young man's chest. The customer slowly took hold of it with his free hand.

Mikamura looked at the umbrella inquisitively. "Is it really going to rain? It didn't look like it would earlier."

The young man shifted the umbrella from one hand to the other, placing the book under his arm. "Oh yes," he said cheerfully as he walked out of the front of the shop. "There is a storm coming soon." Outside the store, he called back in pleasantly, "Thank you for all of your help, sir!"

"You're very welcome! Come back any time and tell me how you find the stories!"

Walking a few feet from the shop, the young man rolled his eyes. The sound of his sandals scraped the hard dirt road, which was soon lost in the bustle of the evening rush of townsfolk closing up and heading home. Among the bustle of bright kimonos and the dinner rush of the taverns and restaurants, nobody paid any attention when the young man dropped his newly purchased book in a trash heap and continued walking.


	12. Mean to Me

Disclaimer: I own neither Rurouni Kenshin nor George Eliot's _Middlemarch_.

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE – MEAN TO ME: Letters, Lines, and Layers

The sun had yet to rise completely, and behind the solid sky of clouds, the morning light took on a blue-grey hue. A light rain fell, tapping on the tiled roofs of the town, softly, as if it too had yet to fully awaken. Although the rivulets that ran down the clinic muddied the garden grounds, Isamu took a squelchy step.

He leaned against the post supporting the veranda's overhang with one hand, taking care not to slip as he set his other foot down, this time more gingerly. He eyed his crutch, which was leaning against the wall, for a short time before he swung its substitute, a pale umbrella, over his head and took a determined step.

His foot sank slightly in the fresh mud, but he was able to stand on it.

Isamu breathed a sigh of relief at his ankle's apparent recovery. Taking a few experimental steps, he noted the pain lessened as he paid more attention to his surroundings than his body. The flowers in the herb garden appeared like pale copies of their originals, as if the rain acted like a thin silk curtain, obscuring his vision. Droplets fell from drooping leaves into rippling puddles on the ground of the open yard, and he could hear the echoed descent of the rain in the well. Though his toes felt cold, Isamu was glad to be able to test out his walking ability—preferably before he would have to have anyone else see him taking his wobbly steps.

_At least this way, if the rain keeps up, I won't have to show how weak I am to Kik_—he stopped his train of thought. _Bah. I shouldn't be worrying about that anyway. I won't be staying here for much longer_. As he gazed back at the clinic, a few drops managed to evade his umbrella and get him on the nose. He shook them and his doubts off as he continued his practice walk.

There were no birds or wind chimes to pierce the sound of the falling rain, so Isamu was made acutely aware of the running water over the house. As he passed the edge of his bedroom, and then Kikeiko's room, the pattering on the roof seemed to grow louder. Then, when he crossed a few more shaky steps beyond Doctor Megumi's living space, the drips from the edge of the roof seemed to fall in a regular rhythm. A couple more wavering footfalls, and he was nearly across the outside of Doctor Gensai's living quarters, listening to the water running down the side of the building, taking each step: one, two, one, tw—_Oof!_

He managed to catch himself on one of the porch beams, blushing with embarrassment. _Good thing no one saw th_—he blinked as he saw a shadow at the edge of the house, just barely enough around the corner to hardly be noticed.

"I see you're recovering well," the shadow drawled.

"Noburo," Isamu identified the voice.

The other young man stepped out of his cover slightly. His brown bangs were plastered on his forehead in the rain, and his ponytail hung limp against his neck.

"What news have you got this time?" Isamu took a few uncertain steps and leaned against the building next to Noburo.

"The plan's about halfway-set." His tone was business-like. "We've got our locations; now we just need the firepower."

Isamu was quiet as he breathed in the smell of the morning rain, thinking. "Where were you planning on getting that?"

"We've got a few ideas," Noburo pulled out a newspaper and handed it to Isamu. "This guy, for one," he pointed to a name on the paper.

"I thought he refused," Isamu scrunched is brows in confusion.

Noburo shrugged. "You know we've got means of persuasion. That's Iwashiro's specialty."

Isamu felt a shiver run down his leg, culminating in his injured ankle.

"Anyway," Noburo continued. "What news have you got on this front?"

"Nothing much," Isamu shrugged, tucking the paper into the fold of his shirt. "The fighter guy and the doctor lady went on a trip with that swordsman the boss was worried about."

"Ah, so they're close then?" Noburo's eyebrow piqued.

"Yeah," Isamu answered. "They're friends or something. I don't know how long they'll be gone, though. Since the rain started up, they might come back from Izu earlier than expected."

Noburo began pondering. "Or later, if the roads don't hold up in the rain."

Isamu stood in silence as the rain poured down in front of the two young men. His feet felt cold in the water, and he wondered if he had stained his socks with the mud through which he had walked.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Noburo pulled something out of his sleeve. "This came for you."

Isamu took the paper envelope, softly rubbing his thumb over the recognizable handwriting.

"She's sending you some of the earnings she got," Noburo said gently, "and she hopes you're doing all right. She's worried about you."

Isamu's hand clenched around the paper. "She shouldn't have given me this. She should have kept it for herself—she needs it more . . . so she can get out of there . . ."

Noburo put a comforting hand on Isamu's shoulder. "I know, I know. We'll get her out, don't you worry. If this all goes right, we'll make it so that no one has to suffer those conditions anymore."

Isamu didn't take his eyes of the envelope. "I hope you're right."

"Hey, you know I am," Noburo playfully jabbed Isamu on the shoulder, attempting to jostle him out of his mood. "Well, I've got to head out. We've got a busy day today. Keep up the good work."

"Yeah," Isamu was still distractedly toying with the corners of the envelope.

"Oh, and Isamu," Noburo called over his shoulder as he began to disappear into the sheets of mist that fell around him, "If I were you, I'd find some excuses to get out of the clinic for a while."

Isamu pocketed the envelope. "I'll try," his voice fell, pushed down by the increasing rain.

* * *

Sanosuke wasn't sure if it was the sound of the rain tapping above him or the dull throbbing in his head that woke him up, or both. Slowly pulling the blanket of the futon off to rise, he glanced over to the side to see Kenshin's bed already folded away, and Yahiko face down on his belly, snoring up a storm.

"Too much of a good thing, kid," Sano muttered to the unconscious boy. Standing up, he slid open the shoji door, only to be met with a wall of water coming down outside. "Tch. Great. No hot springs today."

The lanky man shuffled his feet down the exterior hall, rubbing his eyes and head as if to force the dull ache away with the butt of his hand. He pulled open the door of the next room lethargically with his other hand, yawning.

The main room was mostly empty, aside from a fresh spread of miso soup, rice balls held together with nori, and some small fish. Sanosuke's stomach flipped a little, though he was not sure if it was anticipation of the present meal before him, the residual effects of Kaoru's cooking from last night, or the imbalance the leftover sake in his belly had on both. There was a large jug and few cups nearby, as well as a small pot of what smelled like green tea. Calmly sitting near the food was a form clad in pale blue, softly sipping tea and turning the page of a book.

"All right, real food!" Sanosuke grinned and nearly jumped to take a seat in front of the tray of delicious smelling breakfast. A quick, pale hand jutted out to stop him mid-way.

It pointed to the jug. "Drink the water first. It'll settle your stomach and your headache." Megumi's other hand turned another page casually. "If you eat too fast without water first, you'll upset your digestive system even more."

"You're no fun," Sanosuke complained as he plopped down, but poured himself a cup of water anyway. Chugging it down, he poured another. "So," he said between sips, "s'this your professional cure for a hangover? Water?"

"Hangovers are mostly caused by dehydration," Megumi did not look up from her book. "Alcohol is a natural diuretic, so you lose a considerable amount of water in your system after drinking large amounts. Replenishing the water in your system will help alleviate the headache."

"Oh," Sanosuke responded eloquently.

A few swigs of water and an inhalation of breakfast later, the only sounds in the room were the distant dropping of the rain and an intermittent turning of a page.

"Where's Kenshin?" Sanosuke picked his teeth with the end of a fishbone.

"With Kaoru, probably cleaning up the dishes from their breakfast."

"You didn't eat together?"

"No." Her eyes still did not look up from the page.

Sanosuke sat through another uncomfortable silence, while Megumi seemed unconcerned. Her hair was pleated down one side over the shoulder of her pale blue kimono, flowing down the angle of the relatively low neckline. Her book rested right in front of her indigo obi, obscuring the decorative pink-white cherry blossoms. Sanosuke watched as her fingers swiftly and smoothly turned another page. Peering closer, he caught a glimpse of what looked like a sheet of solid kanji text.

"Please don't look over my shoulder, Sanosuke," Megumi continued reading. "It's irritating."

Ignoring her discomfort, he jabbed a finger at a few characters. "What's that?"

"'Hyperbolically,'" Megumi defined.

"Hyper-what?" Sanosuke frowned in misunderstanding.

Megumi sighed and pointed to the beginning of the line of text. "'. . . the visit altogether was one of the pleasantest larks he had ever had, not the less so perhaps because he suspected that his queer cousin Tertius wished him away: though Lydgate—that's 'Tertius,'" Megumi paused to identify the character, "Lydgate, who would rather (_hyperbolically_ speaking) have died than have failed in polite hospitality, suppressed his dislike, and only pretended generally not to hear what the gallant officer said, consigning the task of answering him to Rosamond."

"Hm," Sanosuke examined the sentence on the page again. "That's a lot of words to say he was only being nice 'cause he had to."

"It's a lot of words because it's describing a lot more than the simple explanation."

"Who's Rosamond?"

"Tertius Lydgate's wife."

"And Tertius Lydgate is . . ."

"A doctor," Megumi explained. "A doctor who has made an unfortunate decision in his marriage."

"What? She ugly or can't cook or something?"

"No, she's just . . . well, she's not suited to . . . you know what?" Megumi's head itched where her fox ears were threatening. Her eyes suddenly narrowed slyly. _He'll practise reading without even knowing it_, she thought deviously, and tried with difficulty to suppress a grin. "Why don't you look here with me," she pointed a few lines down, "and the characters will explain it to you."

Sanosuke shifted his brows suspiciously, but followed her finger with his eyes and shrugged. "Okay. Well . . . um . . ."

"I'll start then," Megumi smiled gently at his hesitance. "'I wish you would talk more to the Captain at dinner, Tertius,' said Rosamond, one evening when the important guest was gone to Loamford to see some brother officers stationed there.'" Megumi's voice remained slow and steady as she traced her finger across the characters as she read them. "'You really look so absent sometimes—you seem to be seeing through his head into something behind it, instead of looking at him.'" Megumi paused and put Sanosuke's finger where she had left off.

"Right. Ah . . . 'My . . . dear . . . Ro-zi . . ." he started slowly, but picked up when the insults came, ". . . you don't . . . expect me to talk much to such a c-conceited ass as that, I hope,' said Lydgate, b- . . . brusquely. 'If he got his head broken . . . I might look at it with interest, not before.'" Sanosuke smiled at the dialogue. "Heh, he really doesn't like that guy, huh?"

Megumi smiled at his comprehension and his successful reading. "No, he doesn't," she agreed, then read on. "'I cannot conceive why you should speak of your cousin so contemptuously,' said Rosamond, her fingers moving at her work while she spoke with a mild gravity which had a touch of disdain in it."

Sanosuke picked up without having to be told twice. "'Ask La-ladis . . . Ladislaw if he doesn't think your Captain the greatest bore he ever met with. Ladislaw has almost forsaken the house since he came.'" At this Sanosuke looked confused again. "Who's this Ladislaw guy?"

"Another man in town. An acquaintance of Lydgate and Rosamond," she said quickly, hoping not to lose momentum in this half role-playing, half reading lesson. "Rosamond thought she knew perfectly well why Mr. Ladislaw disliked the captain: he was jealous, and she liked his being jealous."

"Tch. What a selfish girl," Sanosuke snorted. "What kind of wife wants other men to be jealous?"

"An ill-suited one for Doctor Lydgate," Megumi responded as her finger took the place of Sanosuke's, brushing it just a little as she continued. "'It is impossible to say what will suit eccentric persons,' she answered, 'but in my opinion Captain Lydgate is a thorough gentleman, and I think you ought not, out of respect to Sir Godwin, to treat him with neglect . . .'"

* * *

"Did you say something, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.

"Oro?" Kenshin started suddenly at the question. Clutching a dirty dish in his hand, he paused mid-wipe. "No . . ."

"Oh. I thought I heard something," Kaoru looked around. Finding nothing in the room, she shrugged.

Kenshin rinsed another dish in the washbasin. "There's no one in here but us, that there isn't." He smiled affably.

Kaoru returned her own smile, though it fell a little when Kenshin returned to his work. She gave a nearly imperceptible sigh as she dried the stack Kenshin placed for her. She wiped the bowl in her hand dry with a distracted hand. Something stuck in the back of her mind, nagging, nudging, gnawing in the recesses of her brain.

"_He's twenty-eight. Surely a heart as great as Sir Ken's would have found love some time before now."_

Setting the dried bowl down, she picked up another dish. _Maybe . . . maybe he did have a love before. I mean . . . he's been wandering for ten years, and before that . . . well, I've never asked him._ The next cup settled in the ceramic bowl with a little clink. She heard the water sloshing around his hands as he washed, and gave a small sideways glance at him. His profile was a calm, curved line in the pale light from the window slats and his eyes a serene purple-blue while he hummed a little nonsense tune, scrubbing away at his task. He had worn that same smile before.

_"Mr. Wanderer, while you're in town, I've decided that you may stay here at our school, if you like."_

He had been so stunned he was not able to say anything to her in response. She remembered how wide his eyes had become, and how deep their indigo seemed in the sunlight.

_"Well, you did save my life. And you don't exactly look like you have money to stay at an inn. Call it 'warrior's compassion.'"_

_ "You don't even know who I am. Are you sure it'll be all right?"_

_ "I guess you must have some pretty good reasons for being a wanderer. Whatever they are, I figure that's your own business."_

Kaoru remembered that smile he had as the wind blew through the trees. It was the same smile he gave when he greeted her in the mornings, miso soup already prepared, the same smile he gave when he saw her fight with Yahiko like an older sister to him. It was the same smile he gave when they were walking on the bridge, after the fight with Jinei.

_"Thank you very much for saving me. I just wanted to tell you that, that's all."_

Her face had felt hot when she blushed.

_"No, I am the one who should be thanking you, Miss Kaoru."_

She had been so confused when he said this. Wasn't he the one who had fought the battle?

_"If you didn't stop me back then, Miss Kaoru, the old Battousai the manslayer would have returned. Thank you so much."_

That was the same smile. Kaoru set down another cup absently as she pondered.

"Miss Kaoru?"

"Hm?" Kaoru snapped out of her distant gaze.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Uh . . . oh, I . . . er . . ." Kaoru fumbled for an excuse, but ended up resorting to the first thing that came to her mind, which just happened to be the truth. "I was just thinking that your smile . . . it's the smile of a carefree wanderer."

Kenshin paused for a moment, tilting his head before putting a hand behind it and laughing. "Well, I guess it is, Miss Kaoru."

Kaoru gave a small laugh too. _It _is_ the smile of a carefree wanderer. It's not the smile of someone haunted by the past. That smile is for today_, she assured herself. _That smile is the one he gives . . . when he's with me._

Kenshin's laughter was cut short, as he snapped to attention. "Miss Kaoru, I think I heard what you heard before, that I do."

"What is it?" Kaoru asked before growing very quiet. As the two listened, a muffled rumble and a smooth hum filtered through the walls. Inching closer, Kenshin and Kaoru cracked the shoji open a peek to peer in the other room.

"'No . . . dear; but we have had dinners for him. And he comes in and goes out as he likes. He doesn't want me,'" Kenshin and Kaoru heard Sanosuke's voice.

"What the . . ." Kaoru questioned, eyes wide in confusion.

"Oro?" All Kenshin and Kaoru could see were the backs of the other two people, sitting far closer together than they had ever seen before. The two seemed very engaged in their conversation. "He's talking very strangely, that he is."

"I'll say," Kaoru cocked an eyebrow.

"'Still, when he is in the room,'" they heard Megumi respond, "'you might show him more attention. He may not be a phoenix of cleverness in your sense . . .'"

"Phoenix of cleverness?" Kaoru puzzled. "What the heck are they talking about?"

"'His profession is different; but it would be all the better for you to talk a little on his subjects. _I_ think his conversation is quite agreeable. And he is anything but an unprincipled man.'"

"Kenshin, are they talking about . . ." Kaoru turned to him to finish the thought.

"'The fact is, you would wish me to be a little more like him, Rosy,'" Sanosuke's voice carried a little louder.

". . . Rosy?" Kenshin queried. Then he shook his head and turned Kaoru away from the door as he slowly and silently shut it. "I'm not sure we actually want to know . . . that I'm not."

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed, a little pale. "That was just too weird."

* * *

Sanosuke had a little more trouble finishing the line of text he was reading. ". . . said Lydgate, in a sort of resigned m-murmur, with a smile which was not . . . was not exactly . . . tender, and certainly not m-merry. Rosamond was silent and did not smile again; but the l-lovely curves of her face looked good-tempered enough without smiling." Sanosuke scratched his head at the text. "Hey, what's with the mushy descriptions? I thought they were arguing about the Captain guy."

"It's far more important than just that." Megumi read on, insisting that Sano's eyes follow her finger, "Those words of Lydgate's were like a sad milestone marking for how far he had travelled from his old dreamland, in which Rosamond Vincy appeared to be that perfect piece of womanhood who would reverence her husband's mind after the fashion of an accomplished mermaid, using her comb and looking-glass and singing her song for the relaxation of his adored wisdom alone. He had begun to distinguish between that imagined adoration and the attraction towards a man's talent because it gives him prestige, and is like an order in his button-hole or an Honourable before his name."

"What's all that about?"

"Well," Megumi put a finger to her lips in thought, "it seems to me that throughout this book, many of the characters have a number of expectations that they've built up in their mind, but are not actually based on reality."

"So, they're just stupid?"

"Well, not exactly," she tried to find the right way to express her interpretation. Rain drops struck the porch outside in a regular staccato pattern, as if measuring the time it took her to answer. "They . . . seem to build up an image of what they want, and impose it upon another person . . ." her voice seemed to trail off into a reflective tone. "Their own ideals that they desire so much are placed on people—people who could never humanly succeed in living up to those ideals."

"Hm," Sanosuke grunted a little. "So what happens when these people don't meet expectations?'

"I . . ." Megumi was not sure how to answer. "Well, I-I haven't finished the book yet." There was a suspicious blush that had been lingering since she had started to talk about the passage's meaning.

He smirked a little at her discomfort. "It's not really my kind of story—too much talking—but let me know how those expectations work out for the doctor-guy."

It was Megumi's turn to smile. "Oh, of course I will. Or you could just read it yourself . . . you managed to do just fine with the last half-page full of kanji.'

"I—hey, you were making this a lesson?"

Now the fox ears popped up. "Ohohoho . . . you fell right into it."

"Tch. I told you I could read from the beginning, Fox," Sanosuke huffed indignantly.

"Not at this level," Megumi remained smug, "so I figured a different approach might work."

"Yeah, well, I'm not much for books and schools," Sanosuke grumbled.

"I gathered that when we started," Megumi slid a small paper in her book to mark the place as she shut it. "You learn better by doing. It's not that surprising," she tapped her fingers on the hard cover of her book a little. "I was the same way when I started practicing surgery."

Still sitting close, Sanosuke watched as she rubbed her fingers together, as if reminding herself of the tactile sensation. His gaze traced upward to her thin wrist that tucked under the pale blue of her kimono, and as she gave a deep breath, he was reminded as to how close he was sitting to her.

"Hey," he gracelessly broke her reverie, "my back's itchy again. Not as bad as yesterday, but, you mind putting that gunk on it again?" He scooted back to turn and jab a finger at his still pink, but slightly less inflamed back and shoulders.

Recovering from his sudden change of topic and quick movement, she eyed him warily. "You haven't been scratching it, have you?"

"Er, well," Sanosuke was unable to hide the pink streaks on his back which looked suspiciously like finger and nail marks.

Megumi's eyes narrowed, but she got up to get the ointment anyway. "Hopeless," she muttered.

* * *

"It was very kind of you stop for me, Mr. Rickshaw Driver," Hana Oguni smiled as she climbed inside. "This weather is awful on my joints, and I've a long way to go uphill. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I couldn't let a lady walk alone in the rain," the pleasant man smiled. His smile creased his middle-aged face up to his light brown eyes, though these remained unreadable. "Please, this ride is on me," he waited as she entered the seat before hoisting up the running-handle, "literally! Haha."

"That's very kind of you, Mr. Driver," Hana said as she clutched her bag in her lap to keep it still while they moved. "Would you like my umbrella for the rain?"

The driver turned slightly to call over his shoulder, "No thank you, Miss. My hat's big enough," he jerked his head to draw attention to the wide-brimmed, conical sugegasa. "Besides," he grinned, "I haven't got enough hands!"

Hana laughed at his jovial mannerisms. The rain seemed to slide off the canopy of the rickshaw as the buildings of Mishima began to fall farther and farther behind. The road was bumpy, but Hana enjoyed her ride anyway. The trees seemed to zip by and she figured it would be no time at all before she was back at home in time to spend a day or so with Kaoru and her little friends before they had to head back home.

"So," the driver huffed as he ran up the hilly road, "what brought you down to Mishima?"

"Employment," Hana answered. "I've managed to get myself settled in a very nice inn as the first assistant cook."

"Oh, so you must be pretty good then!"

"Well, I know my way around," Hana couldn't help but blush modestly.

"I'm surprised, you know," the driver continued between breaths. "Recently the jobs have been pretty scarce . . . well, in my field anyway. Too many trains and carriages bumping about—sometimes I can't even get my cart ten feet without nearly being run over!"

"Oh dear," Hana empathized. "You don't think they'll put a railway station through the town, do you?"

"Can't say for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised," the driver responded. "One thing's for sure, though, this town isn't big enough for me and the horses together! I'm glad to steer this old cart out of town for once—I'd take running up a mountain to running behind the back-end of a horse any day!"

"Even in the rain?"

"Especially in the rain!" The driver seemed unflappable. "The horses mostly stay inside, and the smell does too!"

Hana could not help but laugh a little.

"I guess you don't have those kinds of problems, though, Miss," the driver chatted. "I suppose everyone still needs to eat, so cooks'll be safely employed for a while yet, huh?" he continued to smile.

"Sir, are you sure you don't want me to give you something for your troubles?" Hana asked insistently. "I couldn't stand the thought of you going hungry on my account."

"Don't you worry your pretty head," he refused her offer with a compliment that made the elderly woman blush. "At this rate we'll be at your quiet little house in no t—" his sentence cut short as he skidded to a halt.

Up ahead was a tumble of rocks and trees from the mountain pass piled high and seemingly welded together with silt and muck. The narrow pass appeared completely barricaded.

"Well," the driver put his hand behind his head sheepishly, "this looks inconvenient."

"You there!" a police officer blew his whistle. "You! You should head back! The pass is blocked."

"Oh no!" Hana looked upset.

"How long will it take to clear this?" the driver inquired.

"We're still not sure if there are other landslides from the rain, but it will be a couple days before we determine if the roads are safe. You had best get a place to stay for a while until this is cleared out."

"Oh, where will I go? I don't want to make you head back, Mr. Driver," Hana said politely.

"No worries, no worries," the driver did not lose his grin. "I know an establishment near here that can take you in for a couple days. They'll probably let you have it on the house—the old man owes me a favour."

"Oh you're just too much, Mr. Driver!" Hana exclaimed gratefully. "You're too kind."

"Please, call me Chugo," he smiled at her. He tipped his hat to the police officer before picking up the end of the rickshaw and carrying Doctor Gensai's sister away from the roadblock. "If you tell the old man there that Ryouta Chugo sent you, you'll have no problems."

* * *

"The patient has stabu—er, stabilized, but he's not out of the woods yet," serious brown eyes scrutinized the supine form before them. "Nurse, hand me more bandages," the doctor stuck out an expectant hand.

It stood in the air for a short while.

"Nurse?" The doctor turned, only to find the aforementioned nurse buried in a pile of blankets. "Suzume! You're supposed to be helping me!"

"Don't wanna play doctors! I'm explorer now!" the little pigtailed girl took a nose dive into the heap of futon materials, digging around for whatever treasures might be inside.

"But we haven't cured Yahiko yet! He's still sleeping," Ayame insisted, grabbing the bandages herself and wrapping an additional layer around Yahiko's sleeping head.

"Mmph," Yahiko muttered, "my head . . . hurts . . ."

"Don't worry, Mr. Patient!" Ayame assured him. "Doctor Ayame will fix up your head!" She swooped another loop of bandages around it.

"Too loud . . . i'ss too loud."

Suzume was rustling the blankets she had up against the wall before the shoji slid open and knocked half of her heap over. "Ayame, Suzume, Yahiko!" a familiar head of red hair called out. "Lunch is almost ready, that it—oro?"

"Uncle Ken, Yahiko won't wake up," Ayame complained.

"Sleepy, sleepy, Yahiko's sleepy!" Suzume popped out from her little bed sheet hovel. "Ayame is a doctor, and I'm a sword-lady!"

"I thought you were an explorer," Ayame looked confused.

"Change my mind, change my mind," Suzume's voice was sing-songy. "I'm making a dojo, and I'll be the greatest sword lady ever!"

Kenshin smiled as Suzume piled the blankets to form a sort of square hut around herself before running off to look for a stick that would serve as a sword. He turned to Ayame, "And are you going to be the greatest doctor lady ever?"

"Of course!" Ayame beamed. "I can study under Grandpa and Auntie Megumi. I'll be better than the best!"

"Haha, I'm sure you will," Kenshin laughed before looking at Yahiko. "But this one looks like he's a little worse for wear."

"Ungh," Yahiko rolled over a little. "Shut up and lemme sleep," he grumbled.

Suzume, having found a suitable stick, began running around the room, cutting the air excitedly. "Ha! Head shot! Ha! Too slow!" she fought off an imaginary opponent.

"Careful now, Suzume," Kenshin cautioned. "It's not good to play swords inside, that it isn't."

"Sir Ken? Sir Ken?" Megumi's voice floated in from the next room. "There you are! Did you get the children? The food's all ready now."

"Auntie Megumi!" Ayame grinned when the older woman entered the room. "You gotta help! Yahiko's sick, and he won't wake up!"

"Just go away," Yahiko pulled the blankets up over his head to cut off the noise.

"Lazy student!" Suzume shouted in her best impression of Kaoru and thwacked the lump of Yahiko's form in the futon.

"_Ow!_" He rolled out of the futon, clutching his stomach.

"Suzume!" Kenshin said in alarm before swiftly snatching the stick from her hands. "We don't attack unarmed opponents, that we don't!"

"Auntie Megumi," Ayame tugged at her blue sleeve with a small, puzzled frown. "What kind of sick is Yahiko? I can't fix it."

"Well," Megumi knelt down to Ayame's level, "tell me what the symptoms are."

Ayame sparked up at Megumi's acquiescence to playing along. She folded her knees under herself and peered at Yahiko's curled-up form with an examining eye and a finger on her chin. She let out what she interpreted to be a very intelligent "Hmm . . ." before answering, "headache, tummy ache, extra sleepy, and extra grumpy."

"Oh, extra grumpy, hm?" the senior doctor managed to narrowly dodge a kick from Suzume, who was squirming and giggling in Kenshin's arms as he held her away from her dangerous "sword." Megumi leaned in closer to Ayame, hovering over Yahiko. "All of those symptoms could be signs of . . . of . . ." she held her breath for suspense.

"Of what?" Ayame was eager.

"Of the dreaded 'hangoveritis!'"

"Oh no!" Ayame said in mock-shock. "Is it deadly?"

"Not if we act fast," Megumi answered. "Quick, get a glass of water for the patient! His head is depending on you!"

"Right away!" Ayame ran to the next room.

Megumi stood up, grinning after the young girl.

In an extra squirrelly motion, Suzume managed to twist herself out of Kenshin's arms, tripping her way after her sister, chiming, "I wanna help, I wanna help the patient!"

Kenshin laughed as he watched the two running off on their mission to save Yahiko, who was slowly skulking away to freedom after Megumi's diversion. The boy mumbled his thanks as he crossed the room to get to the food first.

"Little Ayame really looks up to you, that she does," Kenshin commented to the lady doctor.

"Well, I'm sure Doctor Gensai has more to do with it," Megumi responded modestly. "Those girls are really quite attached to their grandfather."

"I'm not so sure it's that," Kenshin disagreed. "Watching a lady doctor might have been an inspiration to her. You're a good role model, Miss Megumi, that you are."

"Well, I," Megumi was not quite sure what Kenshin was getting at, "I suppose she does watch me work quite often—she's not even squeamish when I have to set bones."

"It's a nice thing that Ayame has," he started walking back to the kitchen, and Megumi followed, "having someone like you to inspire her."

"She's just playing children's games. She'll change the game soon, just like Suzume did," she shrugged. "It's just a phase."

"I'm not so sure her feelings will change. It would be hard to lose the respect and admiration and . . . love she shows you."

Megumi paused, pensively fiddling with the end of her loose braid as they entered the next room where lunch had been prepared.

"There he is!" Megumi and Kenshin were almost barrelled over as Ayame and Suzume came running into the room, cups of water in tow. "Quick, quick! Get the water to the patient!"

Yahiko, who had been struggling with his teeth to unwrap the bandages that covered and constrained both his hands, let out a yelp as two cups of water drenched his hair. "Hey!" he cried indignantly.

"_Oro_, Ayame, Suzume," Kenshin quickly pulled the two girls out of Yahiko's way as the boy blindly reached for a towel to dry up the hair that had plastered over his eyes, "I think the water was for Yahiko to drink, that I do."

Ayame gasped, "Oh no, I'm sorry, Yahiko!" Her faced flushed in bright embarrassment as she ran out to remedy the situation with a towel and fresh cup of water. Suzume continued to giggle at the sight Yahiko presented with his hands covered in so many bandages they resembled mittens and sopping wet, flat hair. Still feeling about with his bound-up hands, he was coming dangerously close to clearing the table before anything had actually been eaten.

Familiar footfalls entered the room. "Woah, what'd I miss?" Sanosuke's eyes widened.

"Yahiko, what happened?" Kaoru rushed to help her student at the table. "Stop swinging your hands around—you'll knock over all the dishes!"

"Why is everyone so loud?" Yahiko moaned as the rain began to pound outside.

* * *

Another thunderclap in the storm outside nearly set Katsuhiro's brush off course. He lifted his hand and took a deep breath, careful to keep the ink from the paper. He lit a second lamp to brighten the room, as the last traces of cloud-covered daylight had disappeared a few hours ago. The heavy rain had not let up since the afternoon, and it had set his hand on edge for some reason. Setting his brush down, he examined the stark black lines on the uncoloured page.

Rippling in waves of inked fabric, the tails of a fox demon circled the upper part of the page, trailing mist and ribbons behind it. Curving its snout downward, the line of pointed teeth angled sharply with the flowing fur and whiskers as it lunged at its prey, only to be met with the razor-like talons of another demon. The lower half complemented the angles of the fox demon above, filling the negative space with a large phoenix-like rooster, tail feathers sweeping upward in a completion of the circle. The cockscomb and the wings bristled in retaliation, and the feet were dangerously close to striking the attacking fox demon.

Giving the page another scrutinizing glance, Tsukioka rolled his eyes, crumpled up the paper, and tossed it. "I never did like allegory much," he muttered as he set to work on another project. Taking out the supplies for his newspaper, he shot his head up suddenly when he heard a pounding outside that was distinctly not thunder.

"Who's there?" he demanded, quickly hiding his anti-government paper sources under his inkwell and other paintings.

"A friend," a young voice came from the other side, "with a mutual interest."

Katsuhiro's eyes narrowed. The voice sounded familiar. Opening the door slightly, he could make out the forms of two men in the rain, one of whom stuck a foot in the door to prevent its closing.

"Now, Mr. Tsukioka," a young man with brown hair and unreadable eyes said in an even tone, "we didn't finish our conversation at the Akabeko. We were hoping," he indicated his friend as the two pushed their way in, "you might reconsider our offer."

Katsuhiro remained firm. "I told you, I'm not interested. I'm not going to be making any more bombs."

"You hear that, Noburo?" the larger man cocked a grin full of teeth. "He wants to be convinced. Can I convince him?" There was a loud popping sound as he began to crack his knuckles in anticipation.

Noburo seemed to be absent-mindedly reading through the copy for Tsukioka's upcoming paper. "I suppose if he's resisting, there really isn't any other way. We'll need those bombs no matter what."

Catching on quickly, Katsu spat at them. "I don't have anything here for you. I haven't made anything like that here, and I wouldn't hand it over if I had."

"We ain't here for a pick-up job," the larger man grabbed Tsukioka by the shoulder, whirled him around, and slammed him to the ground with one of his arms painfully twisted behind his shoulder. "We want info."

Katsuhiro's breathing was laboured as he tried to recover from having the wind knocked out of him. "I . . .won't tell . . . you bastards . . . a thing."

"Now, now," Noburo turned to the prostrate former Sekihoutai member. "We shouldn't make promises we can't keep. Iwashiro, if you'd like to get started . . ." he invited his partner.

With a grin, Iwashiro wrenched Tsukioka's hand tighter. "Now the fun starts."

There was a crack of bone, and several screams drifted into the night, muffled by the beating rain and the rumbling thunder.


	13. Challenge!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – CHALLENGE! Catch Up, Doctor Megumi!

Big brown eyes blinked quickly in interest. "Whatcha got there, Ayame?"

Ayame's face could not be seen from behind her book.

Yahiko tilted his head higher to peer over the side. "Ayame?"

There was a very engrossed page turn that barely missed the tiny nose fixed in the pages.

"Hello? Ayame?" Yahiko scooted over to her side and poked her in the shoulder. "Are you there, Ayame?"

"Hm?" Ayame blinked and turned to him, as if only just noticing that he was there. "Oh, hi!" she beamed.

"Where'd you go, Ayame?" Yahiko teased the girl.

"Where?" She puzzled before snapping right back with another smile. "Oh, I was just in the story world!"

Yahiko scratched his head at the girl. "Story world?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" She pointed excitedly to the cover, where the words _Illustrated Storybook of Myths and Legends_ were written. "It's a place where there are princesses and demons and magic and talking raccoon dogs and—"

"_Sword lady strike!_"

A wildly flailing Suzume crashed into the two youngsters chatting on the veranda.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing, Suzume!" Yahiko shouted, pushing Ayame out of the way.

Suzume scrambled to her feet with her small stick, bouncing back up as if nothing unusual had happened. She ran back out into the field in front of the house at full speed.

"I'll get you, get you, get you!" she shouted, smiling as she swung her stick. "I'll get the Sano demon!"

A large hand rested on her head, holding her at an arm's length as she ineffectually slashed her stick through the empty air. Sanosuke grinned as he ruffled her hair while she struggled.

"You've gotta do better if you want to defeat me!" He jumped back from the little sword lady with a slight spin in his wrist, effectively turning the girl round about and causing her to swing in random directions. She took a few dizzy steps before tripping over her own feet onto the lush summer grass.

"I'll win, I'll win, I'll win!" The tenacious sword lady was up in an instant, turning her head this way and that to find her opponent.

Back on the porch, Ayame pouted as she picked up her book. "I lost my place . . ."

Yahiko sat himself up. "Why are you sitting around reading that right now anyway?" He leaned back a little in the morning sunshine, soaking it into his skin with a smile. "It hasn't been raining for a while now. You should go out and have fun."

Ayame tilted her head in confusion. "But . . . I am having fun."

"Right," Yahiko sighed disbelievingly as he closed his eyes. The wind tickled the hair that usually hung over his eyes.

The young girl beside him began thumbing through her book again, trying to find her page. "I have lots of fun with the stories. Sometimes when I read them, I'm there too, and I can be and do anything." The stars in her eyes were almost bigger than saucers.

"Doesn't do you much good in the real world though," Yahiko lazily entertained the conversation with the girl. "Once you're outta the book, you gotta deal with real stuff. I think getting out and practicing swordsmanship would be better for you. Then you could become stronger."

"But Auntie Megumi says you do get useful stuff when you read," Ayame insisted.

Yahiko perked at that, lifting his body up half way with a propped elbow. "Oh yeah? How so?"

"She says it can make you more percebif."

"Make you more wha . . .?" Yahiko blinked.

"Perceptive," Megumi walked out onto the veranda, her own book in hand.

"Yeah, that's it!" Ayame's face flushed. "It makes you able to understand people and situations better. So I'm reading a lot so I can understand everything!"

"I don't get it," Yahiko folded his arms and leaned back down, still somewhat unconvinced. "I don't see how reading a bunch of silly fairy stories can help you understand people better."

"Maybe Ayame's learning how to deal with tricky fox demons."

Megumi shot an irritated glance in the direction of the gruff voice coming from the grass before turning her attention back to the two children on the porch. She sat down next to Ayame, gracefully tucking her feet below and lowering herself in a fluid motion, and the young girl could not help but admire the movement, filing it away in her mind as yet another mannerism to practice later. Megumi went on as if she had not heard Sanosuke's comment. "Reading can give you an insight into people's behaviour. After learning how different characters act in certain situations and how other people's minds can work, it's easy to apply to real people."

"So, it's like predicting people's attacks in swordsmanship?" Yahiko began applying the information.

"I suppose you could say that," Megumi shrugged. "You can apply it to more situations, though. You're not limited to swordfights."

"But what about these demon and magic stories? They're all just kid's stuff," Yahiko pressed.

"Well," Megumi put a finger to her lips in thought, "fairy tales tend to run in patterns and sometimes have moral lessons or warnings, so they would be more useful for a person's own behaviour."

"Yeah," Ayame chimed in. "So books can be better than swords and getting dirty outside!"

"No they can't!" Suzume was there in a flash, waving her stick dangerously close to their faces. "When I run and jump and sword strike, I _fly_!" the little pig-tailed girl flung herself up, flinging herself backwards into the soft, tall grass.

"Here Kenshin, let me help you," Kaoru's voice came from behind the shoji door.

"I've got it, that I have," came Kenshin's voice.

The door slid open slowly, dragged by Kenshin's single finger. The rest of his hands were full with a tray stacked with cups of tea and sweet dango to the point of overflowing.

"Kenshin, you're taking too much on for yourself," Kaoru insisted.

"Miss Kaoru," Kenshin glanced back at her as he stepped out of the house onto the porch, "I'm sure that I've got it under contr—_ororororo!_"

Kenshin's face and tea went flying forward as he tripped over the threshold. Hot green liquid spewed out, landing on the edge of the veranda with a sloshy plop and the skewers of dango rice dumplings leapt upward. Kenshin saw the floor quickly approaching.

"Oh no!" Yahiko shouted in concern, lunging forward with a quick hand. "Don't worry, I've got you!"

Kenshin's face smashed into the wood floor while the dumplings landed safe and sound in Yahiko's arms. Yahiko heaved a sigh of relief. "Kenshin, what happened to your god-like reflexes? You almost let the dumplings go to waste!" The boy took a large bite, chomping two dumplings off a stick at once.

"Yahiko!" a deep voice approached them in concern. "Is the food okay?" Sanosuke suddenly appeared ext to the boy, snatching a skewer anxiously to check. He popped all four dumplings in his mouth for safekeeping. He pilfered a few more skewers out of Yahiko's hands, despite the boy's fierce protests and a few head-gnawing attacks.

"Kenshin, I asked you if you needed help," Kaoru chided, stepping toward him to help. "You should be more careful when you—"

"Sir Ken, are you hurt?" Megumi had beaten the Kamiya girl to the scene. The lady doctor eased the man up in what seemed more like an attempt at an embrace than at support. "Here, let me help you."

Kaoru's face turned a shade redder. "So we're back to this then?"

"You were expecting something different?" Megumi placed a hand on the wanderer's chest. His barely conscious head drooped with spiralled eyes.

A small frown spread on Kaoru's face, shadowing her features. "I see. So that's how it's going to be," her voice was cold. The swirling energy around her coupled with her darkening eyes gave off the distinct air of an angry raccoon demon.

Megumi's expression was slier, though no less demonic.

"Did I miss something?" Sanosuke quirked a brow at the strained conversation between the two women as he inhaled another few dumplings.

"You miss everything, Rooster-head," Megumi did not remove her eyes from the raccoon-vs-fox staring contest.

"Sheesh, the bad weather may have faded away, but your demented personality is as nasty as ever."

"You're one to talk," Yahiko interjected. "You've been picking fights with everyone since you could go outside," the boy made another attempt at retrieving the dumplings Sanosuke had stolen, only to be met with some well-placed flicks to the head. "You two are exactly the same," he threw in as a final attack.

"What was that?" Sanosuke and Megumi snarled at the same time, only to huff at each other for the identical response. Yahiko grinned at being proven right and took the opportunity to grab a skewer of dumplings from Sanosuke's unguarded collection.

"Now, now," Kenshin began his recovery to ease the tension. "We shouldn't spoil the last few days we have here with unnecessary fighting, that we shouldn't." He carefully extracted himself from Megumi's embrace to stand up. "I'll just go make some more tea."

"Hey, Kenshin," Yahiko called up to him as the wanderer started to turn back into the house, "when is our last day here? Not that I'm complaining since the weather's so nice now, but weren't we supposed to go home a day or so ago?"

"We can't go back until Miss Hana returns," Kaoru answered for Kenshin. "I wouldn't want to leave her house unattended while she's out."

"Yeah, but what's taking so long?"

"Miss Hana was probably delayed by the rain," Kenshin smiled. "Sometimes the mountain passes around here have slides, and they can take a while to get cleared out."

"That's right," Kaoru assented. "Sometimes it can be days before messengers can get through to inform people about the damage. I'd even bet we'll still have to wait a few more days before—"

"I'm back!" a sing-song call came from the other side of the field.

"Remind me never to take you gambling," Sano glanced at Kaoru.

"Welcome home, Miss Hana!" Kenshin called back to the elderly woman he could see approaching. "I suppose we'll need more dumplings to go with the new pot of tea to greet her," he added as he looked at the empty skewers between Sanosuke and Yahiko before popping back inside the house.

* * *

"Isn't this great?" Kikeiko's eyes gleamed in the late morning light.

"Huh? Oh, yeah . . . sure," Isamu scratched his head and looked away. He had been staring at her hair again. "Wait, what?"

"Walking outside, silly!" Kikeiko was unflappable.

"It's the same thing we did yesterday," Isamu flushed noticeably when Kikeiko latched onto his arm.

"I know! That means you're getting better," she grinned.

"Hn. I guess so," Isamu wobbled a little at the next step. Kikeiko gripped him tighter around the arm, half hugging, half supporting him. His blush reached to his neck. "Y-you don't have to . . . to do that," Isamu stammered a bit trying to tug his arm away. "I'm getting better, remember? I-I can make it your dad's shop on my own power."

Kikeiko smiled softly, but did not let go. "I know," she looked at him meaningfully.

Isamu was decidedly uncomfortable with her eyes on him, but decided to stop struggling with her grip before he tugged too hard and knocked them both over. Their sandals shuffled along the dirt road across town, passing small shops and passersby with only the briefest snippets of desultory conversation. The sunshine came in irregular beams between the buildings until they reached the open space just before the bridge over the river.

"Oh, Isamu, look!" she broke away from him to hurry her little wooden sandals down the embankment.

"Kikeiko, wait up!" he shouted after her.

"C'mon!" Kikeiko turned mid-run to call back to him. Her footing tangled as she twisted round to look back at him, and she fell forward, rolling down the steep hill down to the river with a cry of surprise.

"Kikeiko!" Isamu shouted in concern as he saw her body disappear down the hill. He rushed after as fast as he was able, favouring his left leg. By the time he reached the edge of the embankment slope, he found Kikeiko on her back in a little heap at the bottom.

"Are you okay? Kikeiko?" He tried his best to slide down the hill without using his left foot. "Kikeiko? Talk to me!"

The little girl's frame shuddered slightly, and she coughed a little as Isamu tried to raise her up. "I-Isamu . . . it . . . it was—"

"Kikeiko, just calm down," his eyes widened with worry. "I'll take you back to the clinic. Doctor Gensai can—"

"No," she sputtered slightly, shaken by another small tremor. "Isamu . . . that . . . that was so . . . fun!" Her shakes turned to little peals of laughter. "I rolled all the way down!"

"F-fun?" Isamu's eyebrows raised in surprised. "Y-you . . . Kikeiko, you made me worry!" he yelled.

"You're too serious, Isamu!" she grinned at him. "I want to have fun when we're outside! I want to run and jump," she raised her arms to the sky, "and to roll around," she let herself fall backwards, "and smell the flowers!" At this, she rolled on her side, pressing her face into the small pale buds that had caught her eye from the roadway up the hill.

Isamu blinked as if just now noticing the white carpet around them. Pastel flowers surrounded their side of the embankment, spreading around them in a motley flourish of pinks, lavenders and pale blues. The breeze ruffled through the petals, rippling through them along with Kikeiko's hair as she scooped up a large pile of them.

She sat up, holding her indiscriminate bouquet to Isamu, who had now sat down at her side. "See? It's like they came out from the rain to say hello to us outside. Smell them! They're amazing!"

Isamu leaned down to place his nose in the heap of lace-like blossoms. He barely caught the light scent before they trickled out of Kikeiko's fingers, and he was face to face with her big brown eyes. He took a quick, nervous breath, and noticed that Kikeiko's scent was not unlike the flowers she had held a few moments ago—fresh, soft, and very faint. Noses no more than a few inches apart, he barely had time to notice that his own blush was mirrored in her face before he quickly scooted back with his hands. There was a slight ripping sound, and Isamu wondered if there had been something tangible between them that he had torn in his retreat.

Kikeiko blinked at the sound, as if it had awakened her from something. "Oh," she lifted her arm, "my kimono . . ."

Dangling from her shoulder, the fabric that normally flowed off her elbow in a straight drape showed a small tear.

"Oh, gosh, I'm-I'm sorry," Isamu stammered out quickly in apology. "Here, let me see."

Kikeiko extended her hand to the boy to let him inspect her sleeve. He held it hesitantly as he tried to focus on the light purple fabric.

"It's a straight tear," he appraised. "I . . . I could probably fix it."

"Okay," Kikeiko breathed, still focused on Isamu's hand holding hers.

"We should probably finish our walk at your dad's place so you can put on another one," Isamu coughed, trying to be all business. "That way you don't make the tear bigger."

"Aww," she pouted. "I wanted to stay here a little longer," she gazed at all the flowers at her feet.

"I don't know why you ran all the way down here anyway," Isamu frowned, though his voice lacked conviction. "It's just asking for you to rip up your kimono or get hurt. And look—both happened."

Kikeiko accepted his helping hand upward, brushing off the excess flowers from her lap. "You're not good at being mean," she teased.

Isamu's frown deepened. "I still think it was stupid of you to run and fall over on the hill like that. What were you trying to do anyway?"

Kikeiko shrugged. "I like running. I . . . I don't get to do it very much anymore."

Isamu looked away slightly, a little ashamed at bringing up something that made her so subdued.

"But when I do get to do it," Kikeiko went back into a smile, "it's so exciting. It's like I can do anything when the wind is in my hair and my heart is racing so fast. It's like I'm flying in another world."

Isamu pondered her high-spirited glow as she spoke, confused. "I'm not sure I get it, but okay. Just look where you're going next time you want to fly, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

They headed on their way to Mikamura's shop the way they had done for the last three days, and as they walked up the hill, Kikeiko latched onto Isamu's arm. Isamu did not try to wriggle away this time.

* * *

"Are you sure you won't stay any longer?" Hana Oguni placed her now empty teacup down on the serving tray. "The weather looks like it'll be lovely and the girls tell me they haven't even gone to the river yet on this trip."

"We'd love to, really, but we can't," Kaoru insisted politely. "I just can't afford to leave my dojo empty for that long."

"Yes, and I'm sure Doctor Gensai has had a lot on his plate since we took away his only assistant," Kenshin set down a few of the party's travelling bags, preparing to leave.

"Right," Megumi smiled, bowing politely in farewell to the lady of the house. "I would hate for him to overexert himself because I wasn't around to help him. When he strained his back not too long ago, he was out for over a week. I can't have him hurting himself with no one around to help him."

"We apologize for leaving so soon after you just got here," Kaoru also bowed. "And I hope Ayame and Suzume won't be too much trouble for you."

"Oh, they're never any trouble around me," Hana smiled.

"Huh," Sanosuke emerged from the house, carrying the rest of the bags. "I guess Suzume only picks up a sword and whacks people when she's been hangin' around you too long, Missy," he nudged Kaoru with an elbow.

Kaoru blushed as Yahiko glowered at the memory of being roused from his "sick" bed with a stick to the gut.

"Now, now," Kenshin placated. "I'm sure with some good supervision and training, Suzume will be a fine swordswoman."

Suzume beamed from beside her great-aunt.

Not to be outdone, Ayame jumped up and stepped out toward the group. She tugged on Megumi's sleeve as she was adjusting her bag to be able to hold her book at the same time. "Auntie Megumi?" her voice was shy.

"Yes?" Megumi turned to look down at the girl.

"Thank you," she looked up timidly, "for the book. I'll make sure to read it lots."

"You're welcome," Megumi responded. "Did you finish the part you wanted to?"

"Almost!" Ayame beamed at the attention. "I'll make sure to tell you when we come back."

"Okay."

As Ayame skipped back to the porch, Kenshin took the moment to prompt the others with a quick bow. "Thank you for letting us stay in your wonderful home, Miss Hana." The others followed suit.

As the group began walking back, they settled into a scattered line, Kaoru and Kenshin taking the lead, Yahiko, Sanosuke and Megumi bringing up the rear. As the farewell shouts from the Ogunis faded over the hill, Yahiko glanced back at Megumi.

"So you were the one who gave that book to Ayame?"

Megumi nodded. "She asked me to find her a book for something she wanted to know more about."

"Why'd she want to know more about Japanese legends?" Yahiko puzzled.

Megumi got very quiet suddenly.

"Megumi?" Yahiko looked back again, prompting Sanosuke's curiosity too. She saw her with her head turned, pointedly ignoring the question.

"It's not real polite to ignore people when they're talking to you, Fox," Sanosuke pointed out.

"As if you would know what constitutes polite," she muttered. Cracking open her book, Megumi lifted it up to cover the slight pink that was tingeing her cheeks. "If you must know," she finally responded after a few more moments of silence, "she wanted to know why . . . you call me a fox."

Both Yahiko and Sanosuke stopped at this. "What?"

"She wanted to find out if there was some special reason," Megumi continued walking past them, her nose still hidden in her book, "so she asked for a book that would tell her about foxes. It was the closest I could find."

Sanosuke burst out laughing. "Ha! What'd she find out? Did she learn about how you play tricks at night and shoot fire out of your tail?"

There was a sound in Megumi's throat that sounded suspiciously like a small growl.

Encouraged by the reaction, he pressed on, despite Yahiko's warning pokes to his shoulder. "Or maybe she found out the reason you like making ohagi is because you can't resist cravings for sweet red beans?"

Her grip on her book tightened.

"Did she find out that you'll show your true form," he sauntered up behind her, ignoring Yahiko's tugging at his sleeve, "if she can find your tail," his hand extended dangerously close to her backside, "and grab it?"

A high shriek echoed through the mountain pass, causing the entire Kenshin group to stop at the sound. It was promptly followed by a reverberating slapping sound.

"I tried to warn you," Yahiko sighed while Sano rubbed the imprinted red hand mark on his face.

"Miss Megumi, are you all right?" Kenshin asked in concern and the woman stormed on ahead from her previous company.

"I'll recover," her eye twitched as she glowered behind her. "Besides," she turned to the wanderer, "now that I'm here with you, you'll be sure to protect me, won't you, Sir Ken?"

Megumi had situated herself in line with Kenshin, coming dangerously close to leaning on his arm. "Oro?" Kenshin's hand leapt away when Megumi's brushed against it unsubtly.

Kaoru coughed quite conspicuously. "I'm still here, you know," her voice was flat.

Megumi had already managed to force Kenshin to step further to the side of the road, widening the gap between them and Kaoru. She appeared to have either not heard Kaoru or pointedly ignored her comment as she laced an arm in to link with Kenshin's elbow. Her height made Kenshin's shoulder rise at an awkward angle.

"Ah, Miss Megumi?" Kenshin spoke hesitantly, trying to distract her attention from his arm. "Did you want to talk about something?"

"Oh, I'm enjoying your company the way we are, Sir Ken . . . ohoho," she lifted the hand that did not hold her book to cover her sly laugh.

Kenshin fidgeted uncomfortably while they continued walking.

About ten feet across, Kaoru fumed a little as she began to fall back behind them.

"Don't let it bother you so much," Yahiko put his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.

"Bother me? Nothing's bothering me," Kaoru's teeth ground out.

"You're a horrible liar," Sanosuke muttered from further off behind them.

"I'm not bothered," she insisted. "Why should I care if she's always putting her arms around him? And cooks better . . . and is good at feminine things . . ."

"If you didn't get so bothered by it, she'd stop," Yahiko interrupted her self-depreciation. "She just likes teasing and picking fights, right Sanosuke?"

The tall fighter shoved a hand in his pocket while the other shifted the luggage slung over his shoulder. "Yeah, you know how foxes are always causing trouble." His tone attempted to sound reassuring.

"But . . . but it's more than that," Kaoru's face looked glum, her eyes gazing back in time to the hot springs and the conversations held there.

"What, you don't think she's really in love with him, do you?" Yahiko nudged her incredulously.

"I . . . hm. I don't know," Kaoru looked at the ground, doubtful.

A small silence followed, and Yahiko looked somewhat expectantly back at Sanosuke for some kind of joke or response to get his assistant master out of her funk. Surprised at finding none, Yahiko cleared his throat. "Well, I don't think it's anything to worry about. If he hasn't run away from your ugly face yet, then Kenshin's not going anywhere."

Kaoru seemed to snap out of it a little. "W-what?"

"Yeah, maybe Kenshin's eyes are damaged or something," Yahiko continued. "Or maybe he developed a tolerance for your face. He's pretty tough."

As the vein in Kaoru's temple began to throb visibly, Yahiko sensed the atmosphere was stabilizing again, though he was not quite sure why Sanosuke hadn't chimed in making fun of Kaoru with him the way they would always do. _Maybe Megumi temporarily smacked the fun outta him_, he thought. _At least I got Ugly to get back to normal instead of being mopey and annoying. Man, where would these guys be without me?_

Up ahead, Kenshin had managed to get his arm back. Megumi looked a little miffed.

"Sorry, Miss Megumi," Kenshin immediately put the newly freed arm behind his head, preventing further seizure, "but I'd rather not make Miss Kaoru any more upset. She doesn't have her wooden sword right now, but once we get home . . ." Kenshin could picture a number of painful scenarios.

"Hmph," the lady doctor crossed her arms. "Always back to Kaoru. When will you finally tire of that pushover raccoon girl, Sir Ken," her lips rose in a small smirk, "and come try your hand at challenging me?"

"Now, that's not quite fair," Kenshin chided politely, dodging the question. "Miss Kaoru isn't a pushover, that she isn't."

"Oh?" the vixen threw a glance over at the rest of the group, noting Kaoru's still slightly dismal expression. "She doesn't appear to be rushing over here to fight over you."

"Miss Kaoru may be an assistant swords master," Kenshin showed a soft respect at the term, "but she doesn't have the same taste for fighting you have."

"What are you talking about?" Megumi continued. "She's hit you and Yahiko over the head enough to prove her violent nature."

"Miss Kaoru . . . overreacts sometimes," Kenshin hesitated as he rubbed a residual sore spot on the back of his head, remembering the times that proved Megumi's statement right. "But she doesn't go out of her way to find fights or . . . challenges," he tossed her word back at her, "that she doesn't. She uses her sword to protect—mostly."

"I don't go out of my way for fights," Megumi defended.

"And you're not trying to start one right now?"

"It's . . . a conversation, not a fight," her face turned florid. "What, do you think I'm some street punk like that Rooster-head? I don't fight."

Kenshin's smile looked amused.

"I don't get into fights," her look was stern.

"If you say so," he shrugged. "You win."

Her brow rose dubiously. "Just like that? Nothing more?"

"Don't you want to win?" Kenshin asked.

She balled her hands into fists, becoming irritated with his implacability. "It's not about that!"

"Oh?" his wanderer's smile never left his face. "So then it's about the debate itself, then."

"It's not a debate, it's a conversa—" suddenly Sanosuke's words from a few days ago came back to her and she stopped her retort dead.

_"I bet debate and conversation are the same thing for you."_

If she could have clenched her fists any tighter, she would have drawn blood.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing," Kenshin picked up the 'conversation.' "It certainly makes it so that talking to you is always . . . interesting."

Megumi resolved to stay silent until she could think of something that would not seem like an attempt to provoke debate.

"It's a perfectly normal thing," Kenshin went on. "The same principle applies to swordsmanship. It's not necessarily about winning, but about the process of the fight. One comes away from it having learned more and becomes stronger, no matter what the result—or even if the fight never ends—and that's what you really enjoy, isn't it, Miss Megumi?"

"What?" Megumi had been distracted by the grinding of her teeth.

"What you're really trying to do when you have debates with people," Kenshin reiterated. "You're trying to learn from it and become stronger."

She simply looked at him, at a loss for words. It was difficult to tell, however, whether she was silent due to the profundity of his analysis or due to her own lack of attentiveness, having been preoccupied with her attempts not to argue.

"Just keep in mind, Miss Megumi," Kenshin looked ahead with that gaze that said he was going to strike a chord in her soul, "we can't let pride keep us from learning, no matter where the knowledge comes from. We never stop learning, and every experience teaches us something new."

Struck surprised by repeated words of her past for the second time, Megumi frowned at him distrustfully. Her eyes positively stabbed at him with tiny, suspicious daggers.

"Oro?" Kenshin's serious soul-delving was broken. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Are you sure you're not some kind of mind-reading demon?" she poked his forehead, still boring into him with narrowed eyes. "Some kind of Satori ape or a dragon?"

"Comparing me to demons?" Kenshin felt a small sweatdrop. "Now you sound like Sano."

* * *

Isamu tapped his foot impatiently. "How long is she gonna take?" He glanced up at the sun, noting that the afternoon had almost been completely spent.

Mikamura's shop was not particularly busy, though there did appear to be a few customers coming in and out. Isamu leaned beside the entry, passing the time by watching the flurry of kimono and carriages in the street. It was not yet dinner time, but the smells that spread through the street told him that the restaurants were already preparing for the evening rush. His stomach made a small noise, and he wondered what dinner there would be at the clinic. Turning again to peer into the entrance of the shop to see how long Kikeiko would be, he paused when he saw a quick shadow duck behind the side of the building.

"Here you go!" Kikeiko's bright face came into his field of vision before he could investigate the shadow. She stuck out her hands holding a light purple bundle. "Do you really think you'll be able to fix it?"

Isamu tried vainly to peer around her, but the shadow was long gone. He sighed and took the folded up kimono bundle in his hands. "Yeah, I told you it's a straight tear. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes for me to fix it up. I bet I could even have it done before while we're waiting for dinner at the clinic."

"Oh, um . . ." Kikeiko looked away bashfully. "My dad says he wants me to stay here for the next few days. You know, since I'm feeling a little better."

Isamu's face fell a little. "Oh."

"But I can be back in a few days," she added quickly, seeing his crestfallen expression. "You can even come to pick me up."

"No, you should stay with your dad for as long as you can," Isamu kept his voice level, but quiet. "You've been away for a long time. He . . . probably missed you."

"Well, you can still practice your walking by coming here," Kikeiko was insistent. "I mean, if you start in the morning, you can come by here for lunch, and then we can walk around together. I . . . I like walking with you."

"You do?" Isamu blushed, but then quickly recovered with a gruff voice. "Well, you seemed to like rushing off more. If you're gonna walk, you should have someone make sure you don't hurt yourself again. I guess I'll have to make sure you don't run off on your own."

Kikeiko grinned at his concession. "Okay. Come back when you finish fixing my kimono. You can drop it off and we'll go see the docks next time."

"Are you sure?" He looked hesitant. "If you run off when we're there, you'll fall in the water and end up smelling like fish."

"I like fish," she grinned, then tilted her head at a sudden thought. "Hey, do you want to stay here for dinner? I think we're having some."

"Some dinner?" he asked stupidly.

"Some fish, silly!"

Glancing between her bright face and the interior of the shop, he looked a little indecisive. The shop was as cluttered as ever with its piles of hardbound books with strange titles, high tables, chiming clocks, and large lamps draped with coloured tassels. Western jewellery lined the displays, and tall chairs were scattered around, covered by baubles and knick-knacks of assorted colours and materials. The side of his mouth twitched. "I . . . I think I should head back to the clinic," slowly declined, thinking of an excuse. "I-I want to fix this up as soon as I can, and the equipment's over there."

"Okay," she looked slightly disappointed. "But you'll come by tomorrow?"

"If I'm finished by then," he placed the bundle under one arm.

"I thought it was going to be an easy fix."

"I hope so, but sometimes the silk can be . . . tricky. I'll bring it back as soon as I can. See ya," he turned around.

Kikeiko extended a hand as if to make him stay a little longer, but let it fall as his back disappeared in the crowd. Pulling back to clasp her hands together on her chest, she hoped the tear would not be too tricky for him before she stepped back inside her father's shop.

* * *

"Kenshin," Kaoru sidled up to the redhead. "Are you sure Megumi's all right?"

He threw a glance slightly behind them to the lady doctor, who had decided to preoccupy herself with her book after repeatedly muttering words like 'demon' 'mind reader' and 'Satori-ape.' She pointedly ignored his gaze and flicked another page of her book as she walked. "She'll be fine," he smiled weakly to Kaoru.

"What did you say to her?"

Kenshin attempted to look innocent. "Oh, nothing I'm sure she hadn't known already before."

Kaoru took another concerned look behind her and sighed. _Well, at least he's fending her off on his own now._

"If I may, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin closed a little more of the distance between them, "I might ask if you are all right."

"Huh? Me?" Kaoru was startled by his concern.

"You've been quiet for the whole time we've been walking," he pointed out.

"Oh," she cast her eyes down at her feet. One step in front of the other, she noticed she and Kenshin had fallen into step with each other. "Well, I had started this whole trip thinking . . . well, thinking I could get closer to—get Sanosuke and Megumi closer to each other, but they keep . . . I don't know. It's like they're opposite poles of magnets."

Kenshin smiled. "I think you mean the same poles. If they were opposite, they would be inseparable."

"Oh, right," she blushed, embarrassed. "Well, it just seems like everything's been getting in the way. There were fights and it rained, and now it just seems like . . . like we haven't gotten anywhere. What a waste."

"You shouldn't be so down about it, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin looked at her warmly. "I think you did a fine job of getting them closer."

"What do you mean? Every time they come near each other, they dart off in the other direction."

Kenshin put his hands behind his back knowingly as they continued for a few more steps on the road. The mountain surroundings had tapered down after they left the foothills to a low plain, where the road was elevated above the tall grass on either side. The wind rustled through the stalks of green and gold while the cicadas droned distantly. "Sometimes before we can get closer to others, we have to get closer to ourselves. It may not seem like much on the surface, but I think your trip has done a lot of good, Miss Kaoru, for all of us."

Kaoru blinked in surprise. _All of us?_ She looked over at Kenshin, who seemed to have just noticed their feet walking in time with each other, and gave a bright smile. Together they walked on, matching pace with each other with no need for more words.

Behind them was another story.

"Hey Fox, what are you planning on making for dinner tonight?"

Megumi pointedly turned a page of her book as she continued to read.

"Hello? Fox! I know you can hear me," Sanosuke shouted at the back of Megumi's head. "When we get to the clinic, you're gonna cook, right?"

"She's not gonna answer you," Yahiko rolled his eyes at the fighter.

"Why not?" Sanosuke kicked a stone at his feet in slight frustration.

"Are you kidding? She's still mad at you, idiot," Yahiko crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What? What for?" Sanosuke questioned.

Yahiko blinked. "You can't really be that stupid, can you?"

Sano frowned and grabbed Yahiko by the neck in the crook of his elbow. "What was that, brat?"

Between strangled syllables, Yahiko managed to grind out, "She's still mad at you for trying to grab her butt!"

Sanosuke's arm slackened. "Seriously? But I was just trying to prove she was a fox."

"Well whatever stupid plan you had in your head looked a lot like grabbing her butt, so of course she's still mad."

"That can't be it," Sanosuke looked up ahead at the offended party. "You're not still mad about _that_, are ya, Fox?"

Megumi turned another page in a silence so cold it emanated around her.

"See?" Yahiko could not hide the smugness in his tone.

"Hey, quit ignoring me and answer the question!" Sanosuke was becoming irritated.

No response.

"If you want to her to stop giving you the silent treatment, why don't you just apologize?" Yahiko recommended. "Whenever I piss Ugly off, I can normally fix it if I say I'm sorry—even if I don't really mean it. It's not that hard.'

"Hmph. I got a better idea," Sanosuke grinned and smacked a fist into his palm in eagerness.

"Sanosuke . . ." Yahiko cautioned, but the fighter had already run on ahead.

Megumi was about to turn to the next page when a blur of white and brown flew past her, kicking up wind and dust that threw her hair in front of her eyes. Parting the curtain of mussed hair open to see, her eyes immediately darkened when she saw a grinning Sanosuke ahead of her, dangling her open book in one hand.

"Rooster-head . . ." came her threatening growl, her next few steps forward menacing.

Sanosuke took an equal number of trotting steps backward. "Heh, got your attention, huh? You gonna answer my question?"

By this time, he had backed up just past the slower-moving Kenshin and Kaoru, who turned to see the uncommon sight of Sanosuke holding a very thick book in his hands. He seemed to be enjoying himself, gliding backwards lightly on his feet, as if ready to start a race soon.

Kaoru sweatdropped. "Are you sure this trip was a good idea after all? It looks like they only learned new ways to annoy each other."

"Sano," Kenshin's tone was worried as he quickly looked behind him to the bristling aura around Megumi.

Megumi balled her hands into fists and turned her walk into a rigid, angry march. "You had better not lose my place."

Sanosuke looked up at the sky in feigned innocence. "Oh, you mean . . ." he paused for effect as he slammed the book shut, "that place?"

Yahiko sucked in a breath. "Oh, not good . . ."

As if set off at a gunshot, Megumi sprang forward, a blur of black and lavender that Sanosuke hardly registered before the gap between them was dangerously close to closing. Startled at the sudden change, he backed up quickly and turned on his heels to break into a sprint.

After a rush of wind that tossed black and red hair before their faces, Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko shared a perturbed glance with each other.

His feet pounding before him, Sano pumped his arms freely as he ran down the path to the city. Up ahead, he could see where the tall grass around them ended and the bridges and buildings began to mark the edge of town. Not having broken a sweat, he grinned behind him as he saw Megumi was still following, just managing to pick up enough pace to trail behind him.

Her feet felt sluggish in her wooden sandals and her kimono held her legs too close to each other to match his stride. Irritated, she hiked up a portion of the bottom of her garb to release her legs from the confines and she instantly felt the wind whip around her calves. Able to pick up more speed now, she felt her heart suddenly skip a beat as her legs extended to move her faster across the dirt road.

The wind threw back her hair behind her and brushed against the sides of her neck and ears, where she heard it whistle by. Her free arm pumped forward and backward, as if to propel her by the sheer force of its momentum, and she felt herself lean into the movement forward with her whole body. The air expanded in her lungs and she felt each breath quickly spread and release within her, matching time with the rapidity of her pounding heart. Attempting to keep in time, the struggling steps under her loosened kimono dragged her sandals behind her, frustrating the rest of her body's impetus rushing forward.

She kicked them off in one motion, and broke into a free, full-fledged run.

Confident he had enough of a lead, Sano slowed to a stop, slightly to the side of the road where the edge dipped down into the stalks of tall grass telling of the proximity of the river. The wind picked up the water's scent as it passed through the high shafts, swaying them in rippling undulations. He took a deep breath before smugly turning around. "You'll have to run faster than that if you want to—"

His taunting was cut short as the wind was knocked out of him. He felt rather than saw the arms grab his waist as the impact knocked both of them to the ground and down the slope into the grass he had paused to admire. They tumbled down in a bumpy blur, dark hair, kimono, and white gi twisting around them. When they finally came to a stop, both of them could barely see the sky above them through the high stalks of green and tan that rustled at their collision.

Megumi's hair fanned around their faces as she raised herself up, noting with satisfaction that she had not only caught up to her target, but also pinned him to the ground and winded him. She gave a rose-lipped smirk at the hand she had placed around his wrist, mere inches away from her precious book, too smug to notice the equally short distance between their faces and heavy breathing.

Staring up into self-satisfied eyes, Sanosuke caught his breath enough to get his own back. With a flash of white teeth in an unflappable smile, he teased, "Can't ignore me now, can ya, Fox?"

Megumi made sure to add extra pressure to his wrist, forcing him to release her book. Snatching it up, she quickly removed herself with a haughty, "Hmph."

"Ow!" Sanosuke gripped his wrist gingerly as he sat up. "What the hell did you do?"

She brushed off her kimono non-chalantly as she sat up beside him. "Taught you a lesson," she examined the potential damage to her book, "with pressure points."

"Miss Megumi! Sano!" Kenshin's voice called from the top of the incline. He, Kaoru, and Yahiko had rushed up at the sight of the two runners suddenly falling off the side of the road and disappearing into the grass. "Are you all right?"

"We're fine," the two both answered at once. Irritated glares were immediately exchanged.

"Well, get up here already then," Yahiko called down impatiently. "We're almost to the bridge and the sun's going to go down soon."

By the time the two had made it back up the incline to the road, and Megumi had collected her shoes, the sky had already turned a deepening shade of red. The sun, a red disc hovering barely above the rooftops of the edge of the city, cast a rose mist over the edge of the horizon, reflected off the shine of the tiled roofs and the swiftly moving surface of the river. As the group crossed the bridge, Kaoru stopped. "Look," she breathed, gazing down the river toward the sea, the sun behind her. "It's beautiful."

The entire group paused at the top of the bridge's arch. The river flowed below them to the docks of Tokyo bay, and the last remaining gleams of crimson sunlight skipped from ripple to wave along the way down. In the distance, the tall sails of the ships were painted pink in the harbour, coming in to dock and unload for the evening. Beyond them, the black surface of the Western steel ships shadowed the edges of the docks, and the outline of the old Odaiba fortress loomed over the smaller wooden vessels scurrying back to port under the beams of the bridges. Off across the horizon, the vastness of the Pacific stretched out, escaping the ruddy glow of the setting sun to disappear into a deep purple, indistinguishable from the darkening edges of the sky.

Kaoru took a small handful of Kenshin's sleeve tentatively and leaned closer to him as they both looked on straight ahead. "It's a wonderful sight, Miss Kaoru, that it is," his voice was low as he acknowledged her closeness.

A smile whispered across Kaoru's face in the same muted manner. "It's good to be home, isn't it, Kenshin?"

Kenshin smiled back.

"Well, that's pretty and all, but when are we gonna eat?"

Megumi rolled her eyes at Sanosuke. "Can't you be quiet for once?"

"Hey, I worked up an appetite running here, and we're almost back," he shoved his hands in his pockets and started down the slope of the bridge. "Besides, you never answered my question."

"The real question isn't what I'm cooking," Megumi flicked her hair behind her, "but whether I'll let you have any food at all."

"But it's part of the deal!"

"Sanosuke, you've been on vacation. The _deal_ is that you get food when you work," Megumi looked to Kaoru for agreement. "That was the whole point of this, wasn't it?"

Kaoru's moment of enjoying the sunset with Kenshin ruined, she sighed and answered, "Yeah, that was the idea."

"Aw, c'mon! I carried all those stupid plant things that one time, and I've been carrying your bag the whole way back! You gotta give me something."

Yahiko had had just about enough. "Just stuff something in that big mouth of his, Megumi," he crossed his arms. "At least it would stop his whining, right, Kenshin?"

Kenshin did not answer.

"Kenshin?" Yahiko fell back from the rest of the group as they began crossing the bridge. "Something wrong?"

Kenshin was looking over on the rooftops, toward the harbour. His eyes focused, he seemed rigid and alert.

"Kenshin?"

"Hm?" he seemed to snap out of it.

"Are you okay?"

Kenshin turned to Yahiko, but hesitated from averting his eyes from his target in the distance. "I thought for a minute I sensed—oh, never mind. We should get going," he went back into his wanderer's smile. "We're falling behind, that we are," he indicated the rest of the group.

As Kenshin and Yahiko caught up with Kaoru, Sanosuke, and Megumi, they barely caught the tail end of Kaoru's goodbyes.

"—where we split up. I know I'll be busy making up for lost time at the dojo and with my other students, but maybe we can do something together again soon."

"Like food?" Sanosuke had a one-track mind.

Kaoru laughed. "Well . . . maybe we could go to the Akabeko or something, but not until after I've made some money! I'm flat broke after this vacation."

"I'll see," Megumi thought about it. "I may want to let Doctor Gensai go instead since he's been working all by himself. In any case, it was a lovely idea for a vacation, Kaoru."

"I'm glad you—wait, idea for a vacation?" Kaoru caught on. "You mean you didn't enjoy it?"

"I didn't say that I didn't enjoy it."

"You didn't say you did either," Kaoru muttered under her breath. "Well, anyway, come on, Kenshin," she snatched the wanderer and dragged him off behind her before Megumi could latch onto him. Yahiko gave a quick wave to them before trotting off behind them back to the dojo.

Megumi sighed. "I was hoping to get to say my goodbyes to Sir Ken."

"Well, you could run after them," Sanosuke suggested. "You were pretty fast back there—hey, come to think of it, I thought you said you didn't run—ever."

Megumi's eyes flashed briefly at the memory of her heart pounding and her legs pumping with each quickening step, her hair flying and her ears whistling with the wind, and her breath catching as she tumbled down the hill, flying with the exuberance of physical exertion. "Weren't you saying you were hungry?" she changed the subject.

"Huh?" Sanosuke blinked, losing track of the previous topic at the question. "Oh yeah. You gonna make me food or what?"

"That's no way to ask a favour," she rolled her eyes. "Ask me nicely."

"Look, I just want . . ." his rude retort drifted off as he slowed his pace.

"What is it?" Megumi turned in the direction he was looking.

From their vantage on the street beside the river, they could make out a pile of earth heaped up by the banks. There was a large hole that looked to have been dug out recently.

Sanosuke frowned, remembering. "Hey, before we go to the clinic for some dinner, I want to check something out first."

"I thought you were hungry _right now_," Megumi put a hand to her hip.

"I am," he started up ahead, somewhat quickly. "I just got a see someone first."

"It's getting dark," she pointed out. "Can't it wait?"

"Look, it won't take long. It's not too far from here," he insisted.

Megumi could not tell what number this sigh put her at today, but reluctantly followed him. "Is it at least on the way back? It's been a long day, Rooster-head."

"Yeah, it'll be just a quick stop," his speed had not slowed.

The houses they passed were becoming dingy, and some of the roofs needed repairs. As they walked on, Sanosuke wove them through smaller and smaller streets, until they were at the end of a line of poorly maintained row houses. He stopped at the third one on the left and began to knock on the door post.

"This is Mr. Tsukioka's house," Megumi remembered from their visit not too long ago. "What are we doing here?"

"Katsu!" Sanosuke ignored her. "Katsu, open up you big turd, I gotta talk to you about something. Katsu!" Frustrated, he punched a hole through the shoji and ripped the door open from the inside.

"Sanosuke!" Megumi shouted. "What are you do—" her words left her as she saw what was inside.

The tatami mats of the floor were saturated darkly with a dirty brown hue. Stretched across them a body, limbs twisted and splayed out in unnatural angles, lay in the centre. The fingers attached the closest hand curled in erratic directions, inflamed, swollen, and motionless, sitting atop cords of long black hair pooled beneath them. One leg was higher than the other, tied to the small table, one of the only pieces of furniture in the one-room flat. It was tied with a thin cord or rope, and there were dark brown streaks that appeared to have dried down the leg.

"K-katsu . . ." Sanosuke could barely manage the words as his body froze up, struck by shock and fear. A feeling in his gut churned and twisted something cold through his body, rendering his limbs into a trembling impotence. He hardly registered Megumi passing him as she rushed into the apartment.

She quickly knelt beside Katsuhiro Tsukioka's prostrate body, taking everything in with a scrutinizing eye. Speaking aloud out of habit, she ran through her observations, taking his hand as she used it to attempt to turn him slightly. Carefully, she used her other hand to gently move his head toward her, noting the split lips and pieces of what looked like rope in his teeth.

"Unconscious," she checked his eyes, then felt the back of his head as she gently set it to rest. "Trauma to the back of the head, possible concussion."

Her attention fell on the hand she was holding. "Multiple breaks and torn ligaments in the fingers of the right hand," her trained eye could almost see the forcible hand that had snapped them, the varied size in swelling indicating to her that a large hand had mutilated them one by one. "Separate instances, over a period of hours," she surmised neutrally. "Wrist has suffered only minor torsion," she viewed the purpled marks that confirmed her belief in the large hand of the attacker, "but the arm has been pulled from the socket," she added as she probed the area around Tsukioka's shoulder with a gentle touch.

She felt around his chest and her brow flinched a little as she noted further damage. "Two . . . three broken ribs. Likely clean breaks," she lifted his shirt, "caused by blunt force trauma," the bruises were straight and thin, and she could practically see the swinging of the metal shaft that crushed against flesh and muscles, breaking the blood vessels and splitting the bones below.

Her eyes were drawn to the suspended foot, and she carefully untied the cord that held it, catching it softly in her hands to set it down as she examined the wound. "A single clean cut to the Achilles' tendon," she frowned at a new puzzle. "Raised to prevent excessive blood loss, but not stopped by gauze or bandages at any time. The wound is deep, but wouldn't be untreatable."

With the leg unbound, she was able to turn Tsukioka fully onto his back, hoping to ease the strain on his ribs. She shifted both of his hands out to his sides to prevent further injury.

One look at the left arm, which she had been unable to see under his body, showed her very little damage except for a thin red line around the wrist that told her it had been bound. By the paleness of the fingertips, she assumed it had been suspended above his head, and the blood had been slow to return to his hand. "He managed to remain conscious enough to free his hand no more than a matter of hours ago."

Having thoroughly assessed the man, Megumi went to work untying her smock and ripping it into strips. She quickly wrapped several rounds over the damaged ankle, looping the purple fabric around the base of the foot and the calf to hold the parts together in spite of the gash in the tendon. When she had finished within a matter of seconds, she addressed Sanosuke. "Help me lift him up. He needs to get to the clinic right away."

Sanosuke stood still in the doorway, his fists clenched tightly to the point of whitening the knuckles. "Katsu," was his only response, distant and numb.

"Sanosuke!" Megumi shouted. When Sanosuke failed to respond again, she quickly stood up and stepped over to him.

For the second time that day, the flat of Megumi's hand struck the side of his face, though there was no playfulness or indignity to be had in the current situation.

Sanosuke made a small sound of surprise, but quickly came to. Megumi wasted no time in explanations. "Sanosuke, pick him up and carry him with me to the clinic."

Wordlessly, he did as he was told, scooping up Katsu's limp form in his arms, and feeling like his friend had never seemed so small. Something in his chest lurched at the thought.

"Come on," Megumi hurried him from the door.

As the two ran down the Tokyo streets to the Oguni clinic, the cold, sinking feeling that had spread within Sanosuke ran up his spine in a flash of guilt. Looking down at the unconscious form of his oldest friend, black hair covering the half of his face that was not pressed up against Sanosuke's heavily breathing chest, he felt nearly sick with the knots in his stomach. Behind him, trying to match pace, he could hear Megumi's feet flying up for the second time that day, and he clenched his jaw thinking back to what he had been doing while his friend lay on the floor of his flat, alone and bleeding.

He held him a little closer. "I should have been there."


	14. Irresponsible

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – IRRESPONSIBLE: the Slow Night Slips the Tongue

Sanosuke leaned against the doorway, his throat constricting with each popping, cracking sound of bone adjustment from the room behind him. He could not tell if what he heard indicated that the two doctors were helping or hurting his unconscious friend.

"Miss Megumi," he could hear Gensai's calm voice. "Your stitches are tighter than mine. You take the ankle; I'll tackle the dislocated shoulder."

"I've just about finished his fingers. I'll get right on it."

The next few sounds were low and whispered, but Sanosuke could barely make out the tail end. "—something to do. He probably feels helpless waiting around out there."

Megumi made some sort of affirmative answer, and the door slid open next to the fighter waiting outside. The light from the laterns spread out around her face, but the door did not open far enough for Sanosuke to see inside, which, he assumed, was probably on purpose.

"Sanosuke, fetch some water for me," her tone was clipped, though it managed to not seem too rude when she explained further. "I'll need it to help disinfect the wound."

Stiffly, Sanosuke turned without saying anything. His feet shuffled down the interior hallway, passing the identical patients' rooms before he slid the door open to step outside. The wind kicked up as soon as he exited, dusty and slightly warm. He heard the rope slung over the well beginning to thrum as the wind blew past. With a few pulls, he easily lifted the bucket from the well's bottom with a few creaks of the pulley, and sloshed the water into a nearby wooden pail. The surface of the water rippled as the wind blew over it, but he could still see his reflection in it.

He looked tired. His eyes were red and creased around the edges, and his brows were furrowed in a frown. The corner of his mouth twitched before he slammed his fists down the side of the well, causing the pail to rattle. "I can't just stand around here," his shoulders tensed as he leaned on the wall. "I gotta do something—find out who did this."

His voice trailed off in the wind as he realized he had no idea where to start. Sighing, he lifted the pail of water and walked back to the clinic doors. The hallway was not lit very well, but he followed a light from a slightly open door down near the end. Opening it further, he saw a small, swift hand lacing a thread in and out, a motion so trained it was almost mechanical, but the fluidity belied a technique that had almost become an art. Black hair fell over part of a face that was almost blank in concentration. In and out the fingers went, the thread dancing behind each stitch.

Sanosuke almost stepped in before he realized who it was.

"Wrong room, idiot."

"Isamu?"

The boy sat with a fold of lavender in his lap, his black hair falling over the side of his face as he worked. Not looking up, his hands kept up their repeated movements, looping the thread in and out of the cloth to stitch up a tear in the sleeve.

"They're probably almost done working on that guy," Isamu still did not raise his eyes. "So you should give them the water sooner rather than later."

Sanosuke nodded and walked to the next room.

Sliding open the next door, he set the pail down next to Megumi as he saw her at work. She had nearly finished unwrapping the makeshift bandage formed from the michiyuki apron she had been wearing. As she pulled out her silver surgery kit, she spoke. "I need more light in here."

Doctor Gensai rose from Tsukioka's shoulder, which he had popped back in place. Walking behind Megumi, he came to Sanosuke before he paused.

"Excuse me," he said politely, but quickly.

Sanosuke backed up to sit against the wall, out of the way. He stayed there for the whole procedure, watching as Gensai kept the leg still and adjusted the light while Megumi took a steady hand to the wound, first cleaning it and then stitching with methodical accuracy. Her hands were quick, but they still held an artful grace that told of the practice she had had.

"I'll need some fresh bandages," she said as she cut the last of the thread.

"Here," Doctor Gensai said before Sanosuke could move his hand. The old man handed her the bleached cotton strips.

Sanosuke grumbled before smacking his hand to the tatami and standing up. "I can't take this anymore," he growled.

"Where are you going?" Doctor Gensai looked up at him, concerned.

"I need to get outta here," Sanosuke clenched his fist. "I need a drink."

Megumi tied off the last bandage. "You're not going anywhere."

"I can't stay here," he looked away.

"You need to stay here," Megumi insisted. Looking at his tense form, she softened her tone. "You're needed here."

Sanosuke still stood, but his arms seemed to slacken.

Doctor Gensai glanced at Megumi before addressing the younger man. "Just wait right here," he gently held his shoulder and motioned for him to sit down. "I'm sure I've got something around for you to drink here," he offered before he stepped out of the room.

"What do you need me here for?" Sanosuke crossed his arms as he sat.

"I don't need you here," Megumi untied her hair from the tail she had put it in. "He does," she pointed to Tsukioka's prostrate form.

Sanosuke did not respond, but his eyes followed her finger to look at his friend for a long while. A few moments later, Doctor Gensai returned with a tinkling of a tokkuri pitcher full of sake and a saucer-like cup. Megumi took both and began to pour.

"It's all right, Doctor Gensai," Megumi reassured him as he hesitated. "I'll debrief him about our patient. You should get some rest."

Not entirely convinced, Gensai nevertheless left with a, "Let me know if you need anything."

The pitcher clinked against the cup as Megumi poured. "Here," she handed Sanosuke the sakazuki saucer. He looked at her suspiciously.

"Why'd you insist on me drinking here?" he asked before placing his fingers beneath the cup. "You think I've got a drinking problem or something?"

"No," Megumi sighed in slight irritation. "I think you've got a problem here," she pointed to the tatami beneath them, "that you won't solve by drinking out there," her thumb indicated the area out the door. "Besides," she continued a little more gently, "you'll need it for what I'm going to tell you."

Sanosuke took the sake in one sip and handed the cup out for a refill.

"Your friend was hurt, but the injuries are not as serious as they could have been," Megumi began. "From what I could tell, the first injury was the shoulder. It was dislocated from the socket, probably by someone twisting it quite forcefully."

Sanosuke took a smaller sip of his sake as he gazed out toward Katsu, looking at the space between his neck and shoulder.

"We managed to pop it back in, and that should heal within the next few days to a week." Megumi placed her hands over her knees and looked at the remnants of the caked blood that had refused to come off in her final rinse. "The next injury was his Achilles tendon. It was cut cleanly, but wasn't treated right away. Whoever attacked him made sure he wouldn't bleed out by suspending his leg to limit the blood flow, but they never covered it. This might be the most serious injury," her tone remained neutral, "since the wound became infected. We managed to clear out most of the bacteria, but he'll have a fever for a day or so before the poultice we used truly takes effect."

Sanosuke said nothing, but shifted his gaze to Katsu's leg.

"Most likely, the ankle was cut to limit his mobility. Even if Mr. Tsukioka hadn't been tied up, he wouldn't have been able to escape very far at all," Megumi continued her analysis. "After that, it's difficult to tell which injuries came next. He had each finger on his right hand broken individually, but some of them were broken more than once, so it's hard to tell by the swelling when it might have occurred. It seems to have been over a period of several hours."

Sanosuke could see the stiff outline of splints under the fingers of his friend's right hand.

"We readjusted them back into place, but he won't be able to move them for quite a long time," Megumi poured another cup to Sanosuke's outstretched hand, still talking. "We're not sure if this was during or after he was struck in the ribs. Whatever was used was made of metal, but it was heavy and had something on the end to do extra damage at the point of impact. The upper rib broke first, but the other two were done in a later strike. He shouldn't sit up or move around for a few days until all three of them heal."

"Is that all?" Sanosuke's tone was distant.

"No," Megumi answered. "He was knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of the head, probably with the same metal weapon that was used on his ribs. He most likely has a concussion," she explained, "so things may be difficult when he wakes up."

"What do you mean, difficult?"

"It varies, but he could have nausea in addition to a headache, and he might be unable to see properly for a little while, especially since he was struck to the back of the head . . ."

"And?" Sanosuke picked up on the unfinished symptom.

"Well, it's possible he could have suffered some memory loss," Megumi answered reluctantly. "Many people will wake up confused and disoriented, and Mr. Tsukioka may not even remember the attack or the events leading up to it."

"Tch," Sanosuke set down the saucer and made a motion to stand up. "So he might not even remember who did it to him. Why am I waitin' around here then? I should be out there trying to find whoever did this," his voice was rising.

Megumi pulled on his sleeve to pull him back down. "Don't be an idiot," she frowned at him. "Like I told you, he could wake up disoriented. Imagine how much worse it would be if he found himself in a strange place surrounded by people he doesn't know."

Sanosuke paused.

"Sanosuke, your friend wasn't just attacked," Megumi's tone was steely. "The injuries we found didn't happen all at once. They were inflicted over a period of several hours, even days. Sanosuke, he was tortured." She was unable to hold his gaze as she finished. "Don't let him wake up to find himself alone."

"Katsu can handle himself. He always has." Sanosuke grunted. "I should be out there kickin' down doors to find the bastards that did it, not playing nursemaid."

"That's not the point!" Megumi's grip on his sleeve tightened. "Don't you get it? The physical evidence is what we can see, but it's not the only thing. I know there are plenty of ways to hurt someone without ever leaving a mark," her voice sounded clenched. "Think about it! A period of days, alone in a dark room—whoever was attacking him took their time about it. It wasn't all at once."

Sanosuke was held in place by her tone—it was angry, impassioned with a fierce look in her eye that seemed to stare past him to another time. Looking into her hard, garnet eyes, not even the alcoholic haze that was beginning to form in his brain could keep him from remembering that he had seen that look before.

"No matter what the physical damage is," she pushed her voice through the constricted feeling in throat, "it's nothing compared to the helplessness and terror of being alone, with no end to it in sight." Resolving herself, she released his arm, but held him with her eyes. "Just . . . just promise that you won't leave until you've seen him wake up. You should be here for him."

Sanosuke's fist shook slightly and he set the saucer down. Staring out across the room, he looked at the profile of his oldest friend. His eyes unfocused slightly as the sake slowly swam round his brain, and his mind drifted back to days of sweat and gunpowder, and the shot that echoed distantly in his memories.

"_It's just a scratch, I'm fine, Sano_." He remembered the smell of the blood in his arm, with the bullet that had been meant for him.

"_That was dangerous, you idiot!_"

"_What are you talking about? You were about to get shot, you big turd!_"

"Well," he sighed slowly, "he's been there for me. I guess I might as well return the favour and stay here to see if he can tell me who I should start punching."

She deftly poured another cup with two succinct clinks to the saucer. Sanosuke held out his hand for it, but blinked as Megumi took the sake herself in one gulp.

She exhaled deeply, setting the saucer back down and refilling it. Sanosuke could not help but give a little smirk, relieved to have found a new topic of conversation. "So I'm not the only one who needed a drink after all, huh?"

Megumi raised the cup once again to her lips. "You're not the only one who's had a rough day," she retorted. Wiping her lipstick from the saucer's edge, she handed the cup back to Sanosuke, and lifted the pitcher again.

"You're good at that," Sanosuke commented, the barrier between what he was thinking and what he would say dissolving. Two more clinks and the pitcher artfully rose and descended. "I feel like some sort of daimyo with a pretty lady pourin' my drinks."

"You'd make a horrible daimyo," Megumi missed the compliment.

Sanosuke chuckled. "You're probably right, but I could sure drink like one."

Megumi took the cup and held it, indicating he should pour. Somewhat clumsily, he raised the tokkuri and sloshed some sake into the cup. Megumi took it more delicately this time, gazing over the saucer to look at her patient. Her red lips seemed to barely touch the rim of the cup as she drank, a slight flush coming to her cheeks the only sign of the drink's effect on her. Her gaze remained steady.

"He must be terribly important to you."

Sanosuke took his eyes away from her red lips pressing delicately against the saucer. "Hm? Yeah, he is. I can count on him, you know? Always could, ever since I've known him."

"From the Sekihoutai?"

"Yeah," he could feel a flush creeping up his neck and his tongue continuing to loosen. "We were just junior members, but we fought with all the others. Captain Sagara put us together on different weapons to balance each other out—Katsu got the musket, and he was a mean shot." Sanosuke picked up the sake cup and turned it to avoid the lipstick print. Megumi poured.

"I had a sword," he went on, "so we had close range and distance covered. We were a good team—still are," he corrected himself. "We would've gone to the ends of the earth together, following Captain Sagara and his dream," his tone became wistful. "We were gonna make everyone equal in this country—all the classes."

A smile played across her lips as she set the pitcher down. "That," Megumi closed her eyes, "is a good dream."

"_What do you mean, 'that man gets treated first?' He's only a farmer!_"

She remembered the stern silhouette of her father as he addressed the lord. "_His injuries are more severe than yours. His need is greater._"

"_You can't do that! I'm far more important than some no-name farmer! I'll pay you! What is it you want?_"

"_I want you to wait outside while I treat this man's injuries. Please do so quietly._"

"_Have you no respect for your superiors? I'm telling you, this man is nothing compared to me! I order you to treat my injuries first!_"

"_No man's life is superior to another's. Medicine doesn't discriminate. A life is a life, and all lives are equal._"

"It's a very good dream," she reiterated, "one that we're all still hoping for. So I guess . . . that makes Kenshin your new captain."

He did not answer, but stared at her for a moment. He watched how the flickering lantern threw the shine about her hair in patterns of gold against the black. His eyes unfocused slightly and her skin seemed to glow with the same intensity as the bright light of the flame behind her. Shadows played across her eyes, shifting the colour from bole to burgundy, and he could see the deepening tinge in her cheeks. "You're pretty . . . smart," he said after a while.

She smirked slightly, raising the corner of her rose-coloured lips. Sanosuke's eyes latched onto the motion. "Tell me something I don't know." She picked up the cup from in front of Sanosuke's crossed legs.

"That a challenge?" Sanosuke filled it with more drink.

At the last word, Megumi silently took another sip, feeling the warmth trickle down her throat and spread from her stomach to her cheeks. She voiced no response, but raised her brows as she slid a glance to him.

He took that as an affirmative. "You're human," he settled on his response. "You try not to show it, but y'are."

"Oh?" she quirked a brow at him. "And I thought you were determined to prove I was a fox."

"Oh, you're that too," Sanosuke waved the contradiction aside with his hand. "But you're okay with people thinkin' that. What you don't want people to know is that things affect you too—that you can make mistakes."

"Things?"

"Y'know, things. Like stuff that happens, or what people say. Like when the town said you were a quack. You kept up face, but you didn't like it one bit. You could've said the guy in the street was fakin' it at the beginning, but you didn't. And you never admitted that if you'd said that in the first place, the whole thing probably wouldn't have happened. It bothered you."

"That he was faking it?"

"That you made a mistake."

"And this is something you think I don't know? That I'm human?"

"No," Sanosuke grinned. "What you didn't know was that I knew you didn't know . . . that I knew that you don't know . . . uh," he lost track of his sentence and Megumi giggled.

"Heh," he smiled at her and shook his head.

"What?"

"You got a nice laugh when you're not pickin' on people," the words tumbled off his tongue easily. "Well, it's nice even when you're doing that—hell, it's a nice laugh all around."

"You only think that because I laugh at you so much," she jabbed him in the arm a little, "you idiot."

Sanosuke closed his eyes a leaned back against the wall a little, his head feeling heavy. "I may be an idiot," he smiled, "but I know for a fact you don't laugh at Kenshin like you do at me."

"That's because Sir Ken doesn't go around doing stupid things like you do, Rooster-head."

"Nope," the smile stayed in place. "That he doesn't," he mimicked.

Megumi covered another laugh with her hand.

"Of course, Kenshin makes mistakes too, you know," Sanosuke poured his own drink and looked into it thoughtfully.

"I haven't seen him make one yet."

"That's 'cause you don't wanna see it," Sano took a sip. "It'd destroy your whole image of the world if 'Sir Ken' could be human too."

Megumi was starting to dislike the way the conversation had turned. "That's not true," she denied.

Sano downed the sake in the cup. "Say what you want," he shrugged, "you still don't tolerate faults."

"Who does?" Megumi countered. "They're things that should be corrected, not tolerated."

"Assuming people can make that sort of change," he put the cup down in front of him. "And that's a big as—assum—assumption," he hiccoughed.

Any anger Megumi might have had started to dissipate as she looked at him now. His shoulders shook as the bout of hiccoughs got worse, and his brows furrowed in frustration as he tried to get his serious thoughts into words that would not stutter through his breaths. To top it off, a smear of lipstick, transferred from the edge of the cup, covered half of his bottom lip. The laughter that followed did not make him feel like had made his point at all.

"Hey, w-what's so fu—funny?"

Megumi had to hold her sides as she doubled over, laughing the entire time.

He crossed his arms, attempting to hold in the small eruptions—rather unsuccessfully. "C'mon, quit l-laughing. We're hav—having a conversation here."

Between giggles, Megumi managed to speak. "Conversation or debate?"

"Sa—same difference."

Smiling and a little heady from rising so quickly from her earlier position, Megumi's eyes fixed on his face, which was flushing with embarrassment and mild intoxication. She scanned from his slightly hazy sepia eyes, past the heated colour in his cheeks, to his lips, settling on the smudge of red that spread from the centre of his lower lip to the right side of his face. It seemed to fluctuate and waver slightly in her vision as she tried to focus on it.

"What—whatcha starin' at?" he was still flustered by his hiccoughs.

"Hold still," she turned and leaned in. He blinked in surprise as he felt her hand on his shoulder, supporting herself. Her fingers slid a little as she shifted her balance, and he could feel the warmth of her hand even through his shirt. Her hair fell over her shoulder, releasing the faint smell of gardenias, and the ends brushed over his other hand that rested on his knee. As she came in closer to him, her breath close enough to be warm on his chin and neck, he could see the flecks of red in her eyes that gave them their wine-coloured hue.

"What're you—" his question was cut short as she pressed against his mouth with the sleeve of her kimono. She dabbed gently at his lip, wiping the rouge off in a few soft sweeps.

"There," she smiled, satisfied. "It was bothering me," she added by way of explanation, showing the slightly stained edge of her sleeve as she leaned back from his personal space.

Sano finally exhaled, not realizing that he had held his breath. It escaped with several repressed hiccoughs.

Megumi smiled again, and started to stand. "I'll get some water."

Sano picked up the tokkuri pitcher and swished it a little. "Forget the water. We're outta sake."

"I think we've had enough, don't you?"

"Don't tell me you're a lightweight," Sanosuke bent a brow upward. "I know you can handle it—I've seen you," he recalled his 'going away party' from about a month back.

Megumi looked dubiously from Sanosuke to her patient in the middle of the room.

"Aww, c'mon. Katsu wouldn't m-mind. Besides, if we're loud, he'll wake up sooner, right?"

"That's . . . that's not how concussions work, Sanosuke," she frowned slightly.

"Killjoy," he set the pitcher back down, stifling a few more hiccoughs. "I thought the point was to make me feel better."

She bent down to pick up the bottle. "The point was to keep you in this building and out of trouble."

"Well, it's working," Sanosuke countered.

"Fine, fine," she acquiesced as she padded out of the room. "Don't come crying to me about the hangover, though."

* * *

Gensai stretched a little as he stepped down the hallway in his yukata. He found the halls strangely calm after the feverish commotion that occurred when the young fighter and his assistant had returned. _Though I suppose calling her my assistant isn't quite right_, he surmised. _Sometimes it seems she knows more than I do—but at least she's too polite to say anything of it._

With a rueful smile, he padded along to his room, but stopped as he saw a slight light filtering through the hallway. Peering inside the slightly open door, Gensai looked with interest at Isamu, whose small hands were diligently at work, weaving in and out with tiny loops on the end.

"You'll burn up all the oil, working this late," Gensai chided gently, snapping Isamu's attention from his work.

"Huh?" he blinked. "Oh, I was just trying to finish up," he quickly folded whatever was in his lap to hide it. "I must have lost track of the time."

Gensai smiled, noting the familiar lavender colour the kimono. "I'm sure Kikeiko won't mind if she gets her dress back a little later. Now come along," he placed a hand to his back to indicate he should rise. "I think it's well past all of our bedtimes."

Isamu got up to pull out the futon from its cupboard, releasing the kimono and letting it fall to the floor. Gensai thoughtfully picked it up to fold it, but did not set it down before taking a good look at the sleeve and its repairs.

"That's an interesting stitch you've used," he commented.

Isamu stiffened slightly as he unrolled his bedding. "Is it?" he tried to sound neutral.

"Yes, I've seen it before quite often," Gensai continued, his brown eyes scrutinizing the tiny loops that ended in individual knots, "but never in a kimono. Did your mother teach it to you?"

"No," Isamu shifted his eyes as he placed the pillow at the top of his bedroll.

"I didn't think so," Gensai stepped over and handed the soft, folded bundle to the boy. "It's not your common tailor's stitch, that's for sure. But, my boy," Isamu's eye twitched a little as the older man put a hand to the top of his head and ruffled his black hair a bit, "I wouldn't be surprised if you found your true calling in medicine instead of textiles."

"Why do you say that?" he stepped aside from him and set the kimono by the head of his futon.

"Why, you've got the hand of a surgeon," Gensai's eye twinkled.

Isamu smoothed out the kimono before kneeling down to his bed.

"Who did you say taught you that stitch again?"

"I didn't," Isamu frowned as he carefully brought his injured ankle under the blankets.

"Ah, well then," Gensai decided to back off the topic, "it must be a natural talent then. In any case, you'll be able to finish in the morning, I'm sure," he walked over the lantern in the corner of the room to dim it. His feet creaked slightly on the wooden floor and he could hear Isamu rustle in his bed uncomfortably. Gensai reached out to put out the light, but was stopped when he heard Isamu speak again.

"Doctor Gensai?"

"Yes?"

"Do you . . . is that man in the other room . . . will he be all right?"

Gensai turned and saw the boy looking very small in his futon. He had shifted to take pressure off of his injured side, rolling over so his left foot sat on top. His black hair fell over his troubled brown eyes, and Gensai noted his face was longer than he had remembered, and the cheekbones high. He paused in thought and recollection as he dimmed the light with his answer. "We've done what we can for now, and when he wakes up, we'll be there to help him to the best of our abilities. For now, that's what he needs. You shouldn't worry about it. Miss Megumi is very capable—and I'm no novice myself," he grinned, the whiteness of his teeth remaining faintly in the dark as the light went out.

Isamu heard the door slide open and the old man step outside with a warmly toned, "Sleep well, Isamu."

When the door had closed, Isamu stared at the ceiling. Though his ankle had mostly healed by now, it itched with a sensation that nagged at him, as if the memory of his injury were trying to burn its way back through his flesh to the surface. He shifted his blankets again and turned, his face staring at the pale purple kimono beside him.

* * *

The wet cloth bunched a little awkwardly as Sanosuke set it on Katsu's forehead. His big fingers tried to smooth it out, but only succeeded in squeezing out the moisture and letting it drip down the sides of the unconscious man's face. With a small curse, he wiped away the streams that had rolled down with the edge of his shirt.

Sanosuke leaned back, sitting cross-legged while he looked over his friend. Katsu's brows were still set in that near-permanent frown, though the empty sleep he was in seemed to have slackened them slightly. His mouth was a thin line that opened slightly in the centre, breathing softly with the rise and fall of his chest. Sano's eyes darted between the movement of his breathing and his eyes, still relieved at seeing the one and hopeful he would watch the other change soon.

A clink next to him broke his pattern as he looked down to see two pitchers.

"Sake," she pointed to one, then moved her finger to the other. "Water, though it seems your hiccoughs are gone. Everything all right?" Megumi knelt down above Tsukioka's head.

"He hasn't changed," Sanosuke could not tell what tone he was using. It felt strange to him, like someone else's voice in his throat.

"I know that. I meant you," she set a hand down to touch the cloth on the patient's head. "You trying to drown him or something?" She picked it up and wrung it out over the bucket on the other side.

"Tch. Guess I'm a lousy nurse, huh?"

"No, just a sloppy one," she set the cloth back down on Tsukioka's head. Her hands lingered a while as she slipped her fingers to his neck to check his pulse and lifted the collar of his right side to examine the swelling of his dislocated shoulder.

"So now we just wait." It was somewhere between a question and a statement.

"Yes. That and monitor," she added. "He doesn't need round-the-clock surveillance, but he should have someone check up on him every hour or so."

Sanosuke's eyes did not meet hers, but traced across Katsu's injured shoulder to his equally injured hand. He frowned as he thought of how long it would be before Katsu would be able to draw again. He was interrupted by another clink.

"Here," Megumi held out the sakazuki saucer to him, sake rippling near the brim.

He took it and lifted it up in a mock toast. "The sloppy nurse gets sloppier," he downed it, then licked his lips. "This stuff's pretty good."

Megumi went back to examining Tsukioka's shoulder. There was something else she had seen that was not in her initial, hastened examination. "Doctor Gensai always keeps something around for celebrations," she absently explained. "Whenever there's a birth or we make it through difficult surgery, he always insists on celebrating by having a cup of the best sake."

Sano smirked at the memory of the old man at his party at the dojo. He had certainly wasted no time in enjoying the sake he had gotten for that occasion. "Must be fun to have so many little parties. With your stitchin' so good and all, must make for lots of occasions for you to celebrate."

"I humour him sometimes," her fingers were still probing.

"Tch. You're too serious," he poured another cup and shoved it at her, blocking her field of vision.

She blinked at the interruption and looked at him askance. "And you're not serious enough," her fingers closed around the drink.

"Hey, I can do serious," he answered back. The room got quiet again when Megumi, taking a long sip from the sake cup, did not pick up the discussion. The lamp burned in the corner, flickering a yellowed glow about the room. The air hung thick as the warm vapours rose from the top of the bottle, spiralling upward in fragrant, dissipating curls.

Megumi finished her cup before casting a curious eye to Sanosuke. In the honey-gold haze of the lantern's light, she watched the rustling of his jacket, now appearing almost cream-coloured, as he shifted himself back toward the wall to lean against it.

"Sanosuke," she saw him direct a slow glance at her, "there was another wound I found on your friend's arm. It . . ." her brows scrunched while her mind worked through the liquor lacing around her thoughts, tripping them up, "it looked like a gunshot wound."

He grunted an affirmative before holding out his hand, demanding the cup back. Frowning slightly at the lack of a polite request, she placed her patient's jacket back over his shoulder and collar, and made her way over to him.

As she shoved the empty cup in his hand, he elaborated. "There are actually two there, but the big turd went and got himself hit in pretty much the same spot saving my ass," there was a slosh of sake as he poured for himself, "so it just looks like one."

"It looked like it couldn't have been more than a month old."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," he breathed in the warm mist that rose from the saucer before sipping it down slowly. It spread a small fire down to his stomach, trickling outwards. The air continued to feel slow and slightly heavy in the glow of the lantern.

"What happened?" It was, perhaps, the alcohol slowing her senses, but from the way the light fell in languid undulations around the room, muting the hard edges of objects to almost liquid indistinction, when she looked across the room to her patient, he seemed almost to be sleeping naturally—as if nothing had happened.

Sanosuke let out a small laugh that rumbled from his gut. "Oh, nothing much. Just tried to blow up the government is all."

"_What_?"

"Shh, keep it down, Fox," he covered her mouth with his hand. "Everyone else is sleepin'."

She slid his hand away. "What do you mean, 'blow up the government?'" her whisper was harsh enough to speak volumes.

"Well, like you said, it was about a month ago, when I first bumped into Katsu in Tokyo . . . I hadn't seen him in forever, but it was like for him, time stopped when the Sekihoutai met its end." Sanosuke smiled slightly, remembering. "I was like that too for a long time—fightin' everyone I came across, filled with rage, and tryin' to forget so bad . . . so bad I kinda forgot myself—heh, but Katsu couldn't forget, and he had this crazy idea to get revenge on the imperialist pigs who betrayed and killed the Sekihoutai." He paused at little after the name passed his lips again. "Well, I couldn't let the turd go off and do that on his own, so I joined in with him. Of course, before I was gonna go away, I knew I needed to give something back to Kenshin and the missy and everyone . . ." he picked up the tokkuri and swished it a little playfully.

Megumi pieced most of it together. "I knew there was something suspicious about the way you'd decided to treat us to a party," her tone was slightly accusing. "It's a good thing Kenshin knocked some sense into you."

"What do you mean?" the pitcher stopped swishing.

"That morning," she crossed her arms. "I saw your injuries—you can't fool a doctor. You had wounds made by a reverse-blade sword."

"Well, anyway," the flush across his face was a mixture of intoxication and embarrassment, "when we got to the buildings that night we . . . wait, no . . . was it the night before?" He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, it was the night before with that bastard, Shindou. We figured out that a few bank robbers in town were framing the Sekihoutai, and it turned out that the same guy . . . well, anyway, we were beatin' up his guys and he pulled a gun out."

"So Mr. Tsukioka was shot directly?"

"Eh, not exactly . . ."

"So what happened?"

"I," Sano started, "I kinda . . . charged at the gun. Katsu pushed me outta the w—ow!" he rubbed his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"You reckless idiot," Megumi pulled her fist back from his arm. "What kind of moron runs straight at loaded gun?"

"Well, the second time I did it, I got him in the gut good," he added with a small pout.

"It's still completely irresponsible."

"There you go pickin' out faults again." He kept her from arguing by thrusting another cup of sake at her. "Katsu knew what he was getting into—he'd done it before."

Megumi took the cup and glared at him. "All the more reason why you should've learned from it and not let it happen again."

"Guess I'm too old to change my wicked ways then," he smirked at her.

She made a slight exhaling sound of derision. "Too old?" her brow rose.

"Yep. Been a one-punch kinda guy so many years now, I'll probably keep bein' reckless and irresponsible."

Her white hand tippled some of the sake back. "You say it like you're proud of it."

"Well, I'm not ashamed of it." He shrugged and turned his head when a few strands of hair fell over her shoulder, the movement catching some of the soft yellow light. His eyes followed her face, watching her tilt her head back and close her eyes as she drank, the thick sweep of her lashes falling on her pale, but reddening, cheeks. "To be honest, I think the faults make the man."

She finished of her cup and set it down. "Now you're being ridiculous."

"Whatever, Fox," he snatched up the saucer again. "Just think you can tell more about someone by their mistakes and their faults than y'can by their so-called virtues." His hand reached for the pitcher, but hers beat him to it.

"So what am I supposed to be able to tell about a drunk, fist-fighting, thick-headed gambler of rooster?" she held the tokkuri pitcher just out of his reach.

He grinned. "Probably the same sort of things I can tell about a drunk, self-righteous, workaholic tease of a fox."

She huffed, and he made another swipe at the pitcher. Batting his hands away, she nevertheless poured another cup for him. The clear sake slipped into the saucer in a steady stream until she lifted it at precisely the moment before overflowing. Swishing the jar to feel how much was left, she spoke as he lifted the cup. "This should be the last we have for the night. Even if you are here to keep tabs on him, you should get some sleep some time."

He grunted as he took another sip. "Yeah, I guess I'll wanna be fresh for the fight tomorrow."

Her lips tightened into a line at that. "We're not even sure if he'll wake up tomorrow."

Sanosuke sipped again. "He will," he responded confidently. "He's tough. He'll wake up tomorrow and tell me what happened. He's too stubborn to give in, no matter what."

"Sanosuke—"

"And whatever it was they were after him for, I know he didn't give it up." He tossed back the rest of the cup and swallowed. He continued professing his friend's virtuous obstinacy. "Not Katsu. There's no way that turd would have let them—"

"Sanosuke," her tone was hard enough to snap him back to face her. "You can't approach this situation with that kind of thinking."

"What do you mean?"

Her hands clutched at the fabric at the knees of her kimono. "No matter what happens," she spoke in a drawn, measured voice, as if the words were slow to form, being pulled from somewhere far away, "you can't assume that your friend . . . you can't . . ." Her eyes turned away as the words began to come haltingly.

"I can't assume what?" he frowned.

"Your friend," she attempted again, "we . . . we found him alive. He was wounded, but he was spared. You can't go in thinking that he . . . that he didn't tell them anything, that he didn't comply with their demands."

"Don't be stupid, Fox," he grabbed the pitcher from in front of her, the frown still on his face.

* * *

The floorboards above creak in the dark shadows around her solitary lantern. The room is hot, and there is a heavy haze of steam around the ceiling, making the near liquefied air hard to breathe. The mixtures at the workstation bubble with a sickly sweet smell, and the heat that rises causes her hair to stick to her neck. Sweat rolls down her forehead as if in a fever, and her breathing is shallow, as if afraid to make a sound as she cautiously listens to the movement above. Hearing the footsteps stop, she approaches her task.

Her slim hands shake slightly, slippery with sweat as she holds the paper to strain the boiling solution, normally a job for two. _Alone_ . . . her lip trembles. The rush of steam that rises up nearly blinds her, and she shifts her body to the side to avoid it, though she does not stop from pouring the mixture through the strainer. When the steam billows into her face again, she takes another side step, only to recoil as her arm is burnt against the side of the oil lamp.

With pained cry, she releases her grip on the boiling pan and the strainer, and they fall with the lamp to the floor, clattering with a hiss of the seething liquid and crash of glass. The room is plunged into darkness.

Her heart pounds in her ears as the balmy darkness surrounds her. She hears it thumping, quickening each beat around her brain, and her breath comes in small gasps. The black air seems to tar up her lungs, and the pounding seems to grow louder with each second she is alone.

_Alone_ . . . her arms wrap themselves around her waist as she kneels to the floor, heedless of the shattered glass. She clutches her sides and bows her head down, willing for the accelerating of her heartbeat to stop its deafening percussive punishment. Small and huddled in the oppressively dark heat, it is a moment before she realizes that the pounding of her heart is not the only sound.

Footsteps stop at the door she knows to be locked, and her throat clenches as the clink of the key snaps it open. A near blinding sliver of light pierces the miasmatic air, and the silhouette of a man stands in the opening. The glint of the light off his glasses chills her spine against the heat of the darkness.

The shouting starts as soon as his leather shoes crunch against the glass. Before her eyes can adjust, there is a hand on her hair, pulling her upward, and the bellowing of his voice throwing spittle on her face. Pulling at her scalp, the man wrenches her backward and she hits the wall behind her hard. Her back pained and her knees shaking, she slumps back down to the floor, her heart in her throat.

A snap of fingers and the lantern is replaced. The light stings her eyes, and as she gazes down at the puddle of spilt brown liquid on the floor, she remembers it redder, flowing from the body of a man whom she knew, whom she had trusted. All that trust had bled in a rusty-coloured puddle on the floor.

A hand cups her chin gently and traces the outline of her lower lip, but the possessive, insatiable tint of those spectacled eyes is anything but gentle. When she looks away to her workstation, she sees it set up as before, pots and supplies replaced along with the lantern. Forced to rise by the hand under her face, the trembling in her lip returns.

There are more words, but she does not hear them as the white suit of the man retreats with a mirthless laugh, having switched at an instant. The steps fade away, and she is left with the beating of her heart again when the door slams shut with clink of the lock. As she turns to her work, her hands shake again, and she sees the black stains on her fingertips. Closing her hands in shame, she pauses a moment before she remembers there is no one here to hide them from. _Alone_ . . .

* * *

"Sanosuke," her voice strained slightly as she put hand on his, stopping him from pouring his next drink and grabbing his attention. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes, and he was unable to see them. "Whatever may have happened to him . . . whatever he might have said," her voice began to come back to her, strengthening slightly as she lifted her head, "he needs to be able to believe that he can be strong again."

The knuckles of her other hand had begun to turn white with the force she used to grasp her kimono at her knees. The light from across the room was wavering as the flame moved, but Sanosuke was sure the he could see her fist trembling slightly with the sheer force of her tightening fingers.

"He'll already blame himself," her dark eyes flashed toward him, filling with resolve, "so you can't come at him with the expectation that he should have been able to resist them."

Sanosuke remained unable to respond as the hand that covered his tightened.

"If you do," she warned, "it will only remind him of how helpless he was when he was attacked. He'll keep on remembering, reliving those moments when he was at his weakest." She took a breath. "Don't let him feel helpless, Sanosuke."

She had shut him up. He could no longer hold her gaze, and he slipped his hand away from hers, releasing the pitcher. The flame from the lantern flickered again, and his eyes were drawn across the room to his friend, whose profile cast a shadow beside him. His vision wavered, and he was not sure if it was the sake making his eyes water or something else. "I just . . . I can't stand not being able to do anything."

There was a sharp, painful tug at his ear. "_Ow_! What the heck was that for?"

"Idiot," Megumi chided. "You're already doing something for him. You're here."

He rubbed his ear gingerly. "What . . . what can I do here?"

"You stay with him," she explained. "You let him talk when he wants to talk. You give him the same respect you gave him before—you remind him that he can move beyond this."

He was quiet for a minute as he let the full force of what she had been saying sink in. Despite the flush in her cheek from the drink, and the soft outline of her feminine form in the hazy, indistinct light, she held herself with an inner strength that radiated from her. Pride and resolution, and a quiet hope breathed around her, and Sanosuke wondered, ever so slightly, when her spirit had become so much like Kenshin's. He smiled thoughtfully.

"What are you looking at?" she pursed her lips. "What's with the goofy face?"

"Nothin'," he grinned further. "Just think you learned a lot since you first got here."

"Doctor Gensai is a very supportive teacher," she responded.

"And Kenshin's a good captain."

The lantern finally sputtered and went out.

A pale blue glow came through the shoji doors from the faintest hint of early morning. With the lantern's flame gone, the objects in the room took on a muted azure tint, like light stones at the bottom of a river. The hush left behind by the once sputtering lantern clung to each slate-coloured form in the dim light of predawn, and the only sound that came to their ears was the sound of their own breathing beside each other. For a few moments in the subdued shadows, Sanosuke allowed himself to be lulled by the small, rhythmic sounds of their alternating breaths. His eyes began to feel heavy as he took in the last few glimpses of the silver-blue precursor to the dawn, and his head slowly titled to one side.

"Well," she spoke softly after a long and breathful silence, "I suppose that's our cue to finally get to sleep."

Sanosuke barely opened one eye at her when she spoke. It was as if with the lamp extinguished, the drink and the day before seemed to hit him all at once in a sudden, draining feeling, sapping out the energy he had had only moments before. He heard the rustle of her kimono as she rose and the ceramic clink of the pitcher and the cup as she took them away.

"Don't forget to drink some water," she reminded him of the second pitcher she had brought.

"Mmhmm," he leaned his head against the wall, finding it surprisingly comfortable.

Megumi stood, swaying only slightly as the blood rushed to her head. Gathering up the sake pitcher and the sakazuki in her hands, she padded softly over to exit, fully prepared to head straight to bed. Transferring the ceramics to one hand, she slid open the interior door with barely a sound, leaning slightly on the frame as she did, but paused as she heard a slight noise. Turning her head slightly, she saw Sanosuke shift sleepily against the wall and heard him exhale a low, "Thanks."

"For what?" her voice, though barely audible, carried through the early morning hush.

He did not open his eyes, but mumbled out in a tone that was slow and soft and sincere, "For convincing me to stay."

She remained there a few more moments before stepping out of the room. Setting the pitcher and cup out of the way and sliding the door closed, she spoke in barely a whisper.

"You're welcome," she breathed, and her tired, heavy feet shuffled down the hallway to her bed.

In the room she left behind, Sanosuke slept, snug in a familiar light blanket that had been wrapped around his shoulders.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing so far! You guys remind me of why I'm doing this. I know I left this thing on hold for a long time, but it's good to know that some people can still enjoy it.

And yes, that is an inverted nod to episode 14 at the end.

Also, as a shameless plug, I run a tumblr site for the Sanosuke/Megumi pairing. Feel free to follow and show your support of this great pairing by submitting something! The site is fuckyeahsanomeg(dot)tumblr(dot)com


	15. Awakening the Senses

CHAPTER FIFTEEN — AWAKENING THE SENSES: Warm, Sweet, and Surprising

* * *

Author's notes: I apologize for not meeting my Friday update time, but the chapter got too long and I decided to cut it in half and post what I had rather than make everyone wait another few weeks for it. So here you go!

Also, I do not own the song Furusato by Teiichi Okano. I realize this wasn't written until 1914, but I found the lyrics too full of foreshadowing for Sanosuke and Megumi post-Jinchuu to resist. Not that I'm going into all of that here . . . this story is only set in the Tokyo arc, after all.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

He heard the wind chime first. He could not see it, but the delicate sound of tinkling glass was unmistakable as his eyes blinked in the day. The shoji doors were a bright white with the sun attempting to stream in, and the trees outside cast fluttering shadows on the paper. Sanosuke cracked his neck to the side, but stopped slightly in surprise when he felt something fall from his chest.

"Huh?" he picked up the blanket from his lap. The cloth was pale and lightweight, and it seemed to have been placed around his shoulders before he had moved. "Don't remember pulling this old thing out . . ." he muttered. Beside him, he found another tokkuri pitcher and remembered his doctor's advice. He sucked down the water in one swig.

Glancing around the room, he saw Katsu still lying in the middle of the floor on the futon. Kneeling down next to him, he removed the cloth on his head and touched his skin, checking his temperature. It seemed slightly more normal, but still a little warm. He dipped the cloth back in the bucket of water and was about to put it on Katsu's head, but stopped halfway. Holding it back over the bucket, he wrung it out first before putting it on his head with a smile.

Noticing the water in the bucket was low, he picked it up and headed to the door. The bright sunlight streamed in as he stepped outside, causing him to pause and readjust his vision.

His eyes met with a shifting sea of colours resting on rustling green waves. Purples, reds, and golds danced atop the stalks of garden herbs, swaying and reaching just beyond their tidy boxes around the edge of the yard. The flowers bent and shifted restlessly in the breeze, and as the wind picked up the scent of the medicinal plants, carrying it in the air before Sanosuke's senses, he noticed that it carried something else.

It was soft and somewhat low, and wavered pleasantly, as if brushing in and out of the realm of audibility. It flowed back and forth among a few pitches, languidly settling on one or two before jumping up a register briefly, and cascading back down. At each upward leap, there was a new rustling that did not match that made by the wind and a small sound of something falling in a pile. Sanosuke briefly looked around the waving herb garden, and his eyes settled on the shifting of a pale blue michiyuki apron.

Megumi's black hair shone in a low braid that fell over her shoulder, keeping most, but not all, of her hair from her face. The wind blew the remaining strands to the side, skimming briefly against her cheeks, which were flushed with effort. Kneeling down, her head bowed somewhat low atop her slender neck, swaying slightly with each motion she made. The sleeves of her kimono were bound back, exposing her slim, pale arms that worked with swift little motions against the ground, pulling up offensive weeds and dropping them in a basket with other discarded garden intruders. Deep in her throat came a low hum that matched her movements, and, from time to time, Sanosuke could catch the faintest hint of the words escaping into the wind.

"_. . . on that mountain._

_I used to fish for minnow in that river._

_I still dream of those days even now._

_Oh, how I miss my hometown_."

Sanosuke smiled as he recognized the tune and started to slowly make his way across the garden. As he approached, he managed to keep the well between them, and he stepped lightly with a smirk on his face, keeping himself hidden as he listened.

"_I wonder if my parents are doing well._

_I wonder if my old friends are all right."_

His back against the well, he set the bucket down and took a seat on the edge to slide around the side, angling himself just beyond her peripheral vision. The wind picked up again, causing her dark strands of hair to leap about, flourishing with the undulating shine of ink moving from fluid brushstrokes.

"_When it rains, when the wind blows,_

_I think of my hometown_."

Taking up his laziest position, Sanosuke reclined slightly on the lip of the well, supporting himself with his arms behind him, grinning in anticipation catching her off-guard. As he heard the beginnings of the first notes of the final verse, he rumbled in with his low baritone.

"_Once I've done what I set out to do,_

_I'll return home one of these days_,"

Megumi's voice abruptly halted, and Sanosuke was not disappointed by the startled and embarrassed look on her face. He continued without her anyway.

"_Where the mountains are green: my hometown,_

_And the water is clear: my hometown_."

When he had finished with a grand, flourishing vibrato, he grinned at her, as if expecting applause.

She blew some stray hair from her face in an attempt to cover her discomfort with irritation at his smug look.

"Aww, c'mon," he leaned forward at her. "I wasn't that bad."

"I didn't say you were," she turned away to pull out another weed, dirt clods sticking to the roots.

"Heh," he put his hands on his knees, allowing him to lean in further. His position on the side of the well was already close, and this new action put him very near her face. "Then you must be mad 'cause I sing better than you."

The weed, dirt clod and all, smacked him in the face.

"Pfft," he spat out the dirt that had stuck on his lips. "Jeez, you're touchy in the morning."

"I just don't care much for eavesdroppers," she did not look up.

Brushing the rest of the dirt from his lips, he turned around with a shrug to pull up water from the well, his original purpose.

"How is he?"

Sanosuke paused, letting the bucket within the well swing a little halfway down. "His fever's not as bad. Still not up, though." He resumed pulling.

Megumi tossed another weed in her basket. "You should leave the door open to Mr. Tsukioka's room if you're going to be wandering around the clinic."

"Yeah, yeah," he dumped the contents of the well's bucket into his smaller pail before scuffling back to the clinic room.

Megumi brushed back a loose strand of hair, breathing in the early afternoon air before shifting her attention back to her plants. She brushed aside the tall stalks of lavender flowers, reaching her hand down to the encroaching weeds. Trying to grasp as much as she could with her slim hands, she gave them a sharp tug, only to be greeted with stubborn resistance. Frowning slightly, she made another attempt at it, resting her other hand on the wooden edge of the flowerbed and using it to give her pulling more force. With her fingers secure around the leafy intruder, she wrenched it up. Only the tops of the leaves came off in her hands as the force of her yanking caused her to fall backwards with an embarrassing 'whump.'

Footsteps shuffled up behind her. "You're doin' it wrong."

She exhaled, blowing her bangs from her eyes. "And I suppose, in addition to singing, you pull weeds better than I do too?"

He crouched down by the flowerbed. "If you want to get 'em up by the roots, you gotta twist it a little," he set his hand down on the now cropped patch of weeds, holding them together with his long fingers. With a quick flick of his wrist, the plants came up, roots dangling from the bottom. "See?"

"I know how to do it," she protested. "I'm just not used to the roots being so deep. I don't normally give them a chance to spread so much, but the vacation we took let them settle in for over a week."

He blinked at her. "You take care of this whole thing?" His eyes wandered around the expanse of the garden and the sheer number of neat flowerbeds that surrounded the edges.

She got back to her feet, but stayed low with him by the flowers. "Well, someone has to. Doctor Gensai can't risk straining his back again by gardening, so I do it." She took a look at the vast array of flora herself, and smiled slightly. "I don't really mind . . . and it's easier to maintain if you keep at it. When you leave it alone for a while, though," she sighed, indicating the basket of discarded weeds.

"Well, the way you pull 'em up, it'd take you the whole day to get rid of all of them here," Sanosuke grinned.

Megumi tossed her braid behind her shoulder and huffed. "I bet I could pull more out than you could."

"A bet, huh?"

* * *

"That's awful!" Kaoru clasped her hands in front of her chest in concern.

Doctor Gensai nodded. "He's been unconscious since he got to the clinic. Poor boy was in a terrible state."

Kenshin's face was hard, his eyes narrowed. "And Sano?"

Doctor Gensai rubbed the inner corners of his eyes with this thumb and forefinger before he responded. "He took it rather hard, but Miss Megumi managed to convince him to wait until Mr. Tsukioka woke up before doing anything rash."

"That's good, that it is," Kenshin stated in a tone that only sounded half as relieved as it was meant to be.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru glanced at him with concern.

"Thank you for informing us, Doctor Gensai," Kenshin seemed not to notice Kaoru's deep blue eyes on him.

"Well, if you could, just make sure you bring some food around for Miss Megumi," Gensai's voice held a softness that normally arose when talking about his granddaughters. "That girl will work herself to death before she remembers to feed herself. With all the patients I have to visit on my rounds today and an intensive care patient at the clinic, I wouldn't be surprised if no one remembered dinner and we all starved!"

"Of course, Doctor Gensai," Kaoru bowed as the man made his departure, "and good health to all your patients."

Kenshin also bowed at the retreating older man heading down the opposite direction of the street, but still seemed distracted. A tug on his sleeve snapped him back to attention.

"You're going to drop the bucket," Kaoru pointed out.

Kenshin flushed sheepishly and tightened his grip on the as-yet-still-empty tofu bucket. "Oh. Sorry about that." He started down the street with a few shuffling steps. "We should get the tofu soon, that we should, before they sell out of it." He indicated the crowded street they were on.

Green coats, brown hats, and red kimono swished by, carrying the tail ends of conversations behind them. The street was full of people making their afternoon shopping rounds, from long-married couples to young children and every age in-between. Shopkeepers shouted out the best prices for their wares while young girls giggled under their parasols, thinking of the best hairpins to buy. Kaoru and Kenshin walked among the crowd, their conversation buried in secret beneath the noise.

Kaoru's brows creased in worry as she felt how tense his shoulder was beneath his sleeve. "Kenshin? Is everything all right?"

Kenshin's eyes were still set with that hard gaze. "I'm not quite sure."

"_That's outrageous_," they passed by a market stall where a customer and the shopkeeper were haggling. "_I'll pay five, and that's my final offer!_"

"You mean about Sano's friend?" she still held onto his sleeve as they walked past. A group of giggling women walking the opposite way brushed against her, pushing her closer to Kenshin's shoulder. "Tsunan Tsukioka?"

Kenshin nodded. "You said before that he was involved in a fight at the Akabeko earlier," he stated in a manner that asked for more information.

"_Fresh figs! Best price in town!_"

"Y-yeah," Kaoru answered, a little unsure as to the relevance. "I don't know what it was about, though. I mean, he must have told Sanosuke, but I don't know anything about it, really."

"_Are you sure your mother wouldn't mind a smaller one, Akiko? I mean, we just got the house, and we can't really afford . . ._"

"I imagine that they didn't like Mr. Tsukioka's answer at the Akabeko," Kenshin thought aloud, "and decided to ask again at his home." He stared at his sandals as they walked, ignoring the passers-by on the busy market street.

"From what Doctor Gensai described," Kaoru's voice was subdued, "it didn't seem like they were asking for anything. It seemed more like they were sending a message."

"Yes, but to whom? Mr. Tsukioka or Sano?" Kenshin's jaw began to clench. "Mr. Tsukioka doesn't have many friends, and leaving him in that state . . . they surely expected someone to find him."

"—_and I'll throw in the umbrella at half price!_"

"Then," Kaoru's voice shook slightly, "you think they could be after Sanosuke too."

"I can't know for sure," Kenshin responded. "But if there are people who are seeking out former members of the Sekihoutai and doing this sort of violence, we ought to be cautious. Once Mr. Tsukioka wakes up, we should ask him a few questions, that we should."

"Kenshin," Kaoru bit her lip, hearing the sternness of his tone. "What if . . . these people—"

"Could I interest you in some wagashi candy, ma'am?"

Kaoru blinked at the tray in front of her, her train of thought interrupted. Forced to stop along their way, Kaoru's eyes followed the arm blocking her path back to the open door of a sweet shop with a round, smiling man beaming at her.

"Made 'em myself fresh!"

"I—" Kaoru looked back to the tray held at her chest. "They're beautiful," she took in the bright pinks and yellows of the round little confections, lined up in the box like an assortment of miniature, edible flowers.

"Spring collection," the man explained. "If you'd like, you can try a free sample."

"Oh, I'd hate to ruin such a lovely collection," Kaoru spoke, but her hand twitched in temptation.

"Nonsense," the shopkeeper dismissed her concern. "And what about you, sir? Would you like to try some? Or how about some anpan? We just got a batch of the rolls out of the oven."

"We really should get to buying food for dinner," Kenshin hesitated, his eyes flicking over to Kaoru as her hand succumbed to the desire to snatch one of the little sweet buds from the box, "instead of filling up on sweets, that we should."

Kaoru squealed in delight as she popped the treat in her mouth. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she felt the sweet confection dissolve in her mouth, and she could not help the little sounds of pleasure that emanated from her throat as it did. "This is delicious! Oh, Kenshin," her cheeks bulged as her mouth refused to decide between speaking and savouring, "you've got to try some of these!"

The sweet shop owner waved the tray slightly in offering, his smile never faltering. "Go on and try one!"

Convinced by Kaoru's proclamations and her inability to contain her sugared joy, Kenshin sighed and picked up one that looked somewhat like a chrysanthemum. Taking a small bite, he let the sweet red bean paste settle pleasantly on his tongue until the slight strawberry taste of the outer rice cake shell followed. He quickly inhaled the remainder of his treat without even realizing it.

"Hah! So you like to too, huh?" The shopkeeper leaned back towards his open door and brought the lid down on the box of wagashi. "If you like that strawberry one, you'll love the peach castella cake."

Kaoru's eyes were becoming wide with gluttonous desire. "Peach . . . castella . . ." her voice trailed off dreamily.

"Miss Kaoru," Kenshin held her wrist. "We only brought enough money for the tofu today," he reminded her, though his stomach also yearned to try the scrumptious-sounding, exotic recipe.

"But . . . but . . ." Her deep blue eyes entreated, shining at him with the exuberance of a small child. Jutting her lower lip out in a small pout, Kenshin had a hard time resisting.

"We can come back tomorrow, though," the redhead offered with an appeasing smile.

"Promise?" Kaoru asked.

"Promise?" the shopkeeper asked, half mimicking, half serious.

Kenshin laughed a little at both of their eagerness. "With a sample like that, I don't think we could stay away."

"Well, you'll have to come in and try the cookies sometime too! I've got this great new recipe that—"

"Coo—kie?" Kaoru questioned, her hands trembling at the thought of a new sweet.

"Yeah, a little dough-y thing Westerners make with lots of sugar and that _chocolat_ stuff."

"Sugar . . . and _chocolat_ . . ." Kaoru was inching toward the open door.

Kenshin pulled her back a little, his hand still on her wrist. "Miss Kaoru," he reminded, "the tofu."

Kaoru sighed, brought back from her chocolate fantasy to the land of insufficient funds. "Oh, all right. But we're _definitely_," she cast a longing look back on the shop as they continued walking on their way, "coming back tomorrow."

The shopkeeper waved at them calling out in a beckoning voice, "Me and the cookies'll be waiting!"

* * *

She was gaining on him.

Sanosuke wiped his brow, the afternoon sun and his quick effort causing him to sweat. He cleared the next section of herbs to reveal more spiky-leafed weeds and tugged, throwing the mass of dirt and roots into his increasing pile. He repeated the action with the next one, his arms moving in an almost rhythmical pattern of clearing, clasping, and casting out. He smiled as he snuck another glance at his opponent's work. He had pulled back ahead of her.

She worked with just as much fervour, her shoulders rotating and her arms quickly flashing from the tall green foliage. Her braid, which swung with her movements, would periodically fall before her shoulders only to be swatted back again. The rapid pace of her work and the heat of the day caused her face to flush a deep rose upon her cheeks that nearly matched her lips.

Those very lips were pulled in a smile. Not a broad, or excited smile, but the faintest hint of a whispered expression, as if caught in the space between emotions. As the wind blew errant strands of her black hair across them, the small sweep of her crimson lips hovered from wistful to sardonic, ardent to uncertain, tender to tempting. There was a strangeness to the slight upward curve that seemed to sweeten as she engaged in her work, then went back into a melancholy as she discarded the pulled plants, all without ever physically moving. That small spot of rose invited the eye to curious questioning, mystifying and yet clearly unhidden.

_What's she smiling about?_ the thought circulated involuntarily in his mind.

Sanosuke blinked himself back. He had been staring, and she had pulled ahead in their race.

He snapped back to weeding almost instantly. _Not gonna lose_, he insisted. _I know I can win this_. His hands wrestled with the dirt and pulled out another satisfying leafy clump. He added to his pile and dug into the rest of his work.

Megumi focused solely on the task her hands were performing. Her hands twisted, pulled, and removed the offending plants in a measured pattern. As she moved further down the flowerbed, past the lavender stalks, the scent of chamomile encircled her, and her hands, though they did not stop, trembled slightly. She closed her eyes briefly. "_Hideki, don't pick that one! That's not the real one!_"

"_You're not the boss of me, Shinichi! Besides, it looks just like the picture Mom showed us_."

"_Don't be stupid_," Shinichi had tugged on his brother's ear with disdain. "_Even Megumi knows the difference, and she's three years younger than you!_"

"_Can't you smell it?_" little Megumi had asked, picking up one of the plants Hideki had collected. "_This one's not a-anthemis nobi-nobilis_," her tiny tongue had stumbled a bit on the name._ "You've got the anthemis cotula—the _stinking_ chamomile!_"

Hideki had wrinkled his nose, both at the smell and in frustration as his elder brother and younger sister poked fun at him until their mother had come along.

"_It's an easy enough mistake to make_," her voice had been calming as she set a hand on her middle child's shoulder. "_But you can't just rely on the pictures, Hideki. You've got to read the whole text_."

"_But Mo—m_," he had drawn out the name in complaint, "_they're so long and boring!_"

"_I bet dad wouldn't want to hear you say that_," Shinichi had begun to grin again, messing up his younger brother's hair. "_You know the minute you complain about something, he makes you study it twice as hard_."

Hideki's face had fallen at that. "_Aww, I'll be in the books for weeks!_"

Megumi closed her eyes and breathed in the soothing fragrance of the flowers, awash in the memory of stern studies, sunlit excursions, teasing siblings, and warm laughter.

"Giving up already?" Sanosuke's voice taunted from the other side of the garden.

Megumi blinked back to her task. "Not a chance," she scoffed back at him and extricated another weed. Taking a glance at his increasing pile, she paled slightly_. When did he become so good at this?_

Sanosuke shook his head and pulled out more clumps of leaves and dirt with increasing speed. _Gotta stop staring—it's slowing me down_. He angled his way around to reach the next flowerbed, burying his head in the lemongrass there to search for more weeds and keep his eyes focused. _Don't know what I'm starin' at anyway. It's just the fox_. He tugged on a small nettle, only to be met with full resistance.

"Tricky, stubborn little . . ." he grumbled, feeling the itchy pain in his hand from the tiny, prickling thorns. His frown deepened. He wrapped his fingers around the sides of it, ignoring the painful sticking sensation as he did so. His fingers slid a little as he began to twist, and he recalled sliding, slender fingers from the night before, supporting her weight on his shoulder as she leaned in ever closer to press against his lips. The silk of her kimono sleeve had been cool, but he remembered the warmth of her breath on his skin, and the image before his face was a blur of wine-coloured eyes and unreadable red lips.

With a flick of his wrist, he wrenched the stubborn weed from the ground and chucked it into his pile.

"Don't know what that was all about," he muttered to himself, pulling up two more plants. The sun beat down on him as he cleared the rest of the planter and moved on to the next. The scent of peppermint fell around him, causing a familiar tickling in his sinuses. He recalled that mint smell from that evening in Izu, with the poppy-orange sun slipping behind the trees, the cool evening sliding over the land silently, and the spreading of the mint-based salve over his shoulders with the coolness of silk. Her hands had been smooth as she stroked the medicine over his bare skin and pressed into the muscles of his back. He shivered slightly despite the sun.

_Can't say much about her personality_, he thought back to her slapping his hands, and making fun of him for not being able to read, _but she was able to help out Katsu, so I guess I should give her a break some time_. He flashed a quick look to his pile of discarded weeds with a grin of satisfaction. _After I kick her butt on this bet, that is_. Still gazing smugly at his large stack, he stuck his hand into the bed of peppermint to snatch another prickly weed, but was met with something soft and smooth.

Something hot rushed up his arm and the heat culminated somewhere in his chest, spreading erratically with each hop-skip of a heartbeat. It expanded down toward his stomach, which seemed to flutter like a flame responding to the warm air of a bellows. Then, before he could even register this newfound heat, a shiver of goose bumps rose from the point of contact and up the rest of his flesh, washing over the warmth within like the chills of a fever.

When he looked down, he saw his hand had clasped over Megumi's. She pulled hers away quickly with a sudden blush. "S-sorry," she had trouble muttering out the apology.

At the break in contact, the Sanosuke's fluctuating temperatures and the corporeal agitation ceased. Coming back to external reality, he readjusted focus from his internal organs to the sights and sounds in front of him. Megumi looked away, holding her right hand in her left and looking like the sun had been on her face too long, judging by the warm red flush on her cheeks.

Getting back in the game, Sanosuke pulled up the last weed triumphantly before throwing it in his pile. "Looks like I win," he smirked, pointing out the slight difference in height between the two stacks of discarded weeds.

Slipping her hand into her kimono, Megumi sighed. "Well, I suppose so," she admitted before removing a small silk pouch and pulling out two coins. She flipped them over to Sanosuke, who caught one. The other smacked him in the head before falling to the dirt. "Though, I'd have to say _I'm_ the one who really won this game."

Sanosuke rubbed the spot on his head where the coin had hit him. "How's that?" he picked up the other coin from the dirt, grinning as he pondered what bets he would place with it later.

"It would have taken me twice as long to weed this whole thing on my own," she explained. A calculating finger rose near her lips. "You know, I didn't really think you would be useful for anything, but if you could help out with the garden when the clinic's too full of patients for me to get to it—" she turned abruptly before finishing her sentence.

"What is it?"

"Did you hear it?" she stood up, still looking in the direction of the clinic. "In Mr. Tsukioka's room . . ."

Sanosuke was on his feet as well, but was still two steps behind Megumi as she rushed inside the building.

"Katsu!" Sanosuke exclaimed, apprehension, relief, joy, and confusion all circulating in his voice. He knelt down quickly beside Megumi as he heard his friend groan slightly and saw his eyebrows tighten.

Megumi sat by her patient's head, preparing a cup with water and dropping something from a small vial into it. "Sanosuke, he'll probably have trouble seeing at first. Let him know you're here," she indicated his good hand.

Tsukioka's eyes fluttered and sweat fell from his brow as he tried to sit up. Megumi placed a firm hand over his chest, but spoke in a soft tone. "Please don't strain yourself, Mr. Tsukioka. I'm preparing something for the pain." She gave another pointed look at Sanosuke.

"Oh. Right," Sanosuke gripped his friend's hand firmly. Unsure of what to say, his voice faltered a little. "Hey . . . you big turd."

"S-sano," Katsu's eyes had yet to open, but his hand flexed back in recognition. His face grimaced as the pain flared from his opposite hand, flashing up each broken finger to his relocated shoulder, pulsing from his split ribs and his slashed ankle. Resisting the wave of nausea that hit him and the throbbing from the back of his skull, Katsu slowly opened his eyes to hazily look at a wooden ceiling, a goofily grinning Sanosuke, and a calm-looking lady doctor.

"Mr. Tsukioka," the doctor stated evenly, "please take this. It should help with the pain." She placed a cup of something in front of his lips. She tilted it slightly and he complied by opening his mouth slightly, only to grimace at the taste.

"Don't worry," Sanosuke gripped his friend's hand tighter. "She's not trying to poison you, even though it may taste like it."

Megumi threw a sidelong glance at him.

Sanosuke ignored it, too relieved at his friend's newfound consciousness to care. "Welcome back, buddy."

Katsu sputtered a little bit after the pain medication, but his features relaxed as the throbbing slowly dulled and his eyes regained full focus. He threw a weak grin at his friend. "I feel like shit."

Sano gave a small laugh. "Well, you are a turd, after all."

* * *

Author's post-script: I invented the names of Megumi's siblings. I figured they would have something similarly classic like Megumi's own name, and stuck to the theme of ending the names in an 'i' sound. Other than that, there is no real reasoning behind their names. I hold that their ages have a range of 2-3 years each, with Megumi as the youngest, Hideki three years older than she is, and Shinichi the eldest, being two years older than Hideki. This would have made them 12, 15, and 17 at the time of the Boshin wars in Aizu, and would have made both Hideki and Shinichi old enough to assist in the field as medics-you know, so they could go missing later and create some of Megumi's angst.

All of the plants in Megumi's herb garden hold medicinal properties, in addition to smelling amazing. You can look it up if you want, but I swear, they are all used in some way or another for medicine. And yes, there really is a "stinking chamomile." It really smells bad, but looks nearly identical to regular chamomile.

As a reminder, I still run a tumblr site to host fanart, cosplays, recommended fics, music videos, and doujinshi about our beloved Sanosuke/Megumi pairing. Check it out if you haven't already: fuckyeahsanomeg(dot)tumblr(dot)com.

Also, how's my writing? Let me know in a review . . . ^_^


End file.
